Ruby Chronicles - Omniverse: Book 1
by storygirl99210
Summary: Ruby Bloodmoon is one of Ben's two new partners in Omniverse. Ruby is special, unique and very different out of Ben's partners. She's kind, caring, lovable and is crushing on Rook. And she's a half-loboan alien? Why is that? Is there something special about Ruby? And what's up with a red cloak she's wearing? Read to find out! RookxOC. Image belongs to Maximus Potter on deviantart.
1. Chapter 1 Introduction Part 1

Welcome to the newest story! This one is very special and going to be a lot of fun. WolfWitchHuntress1318 has been helping me make this story, so I hope you like these first two chapters. You see, Chapter 1 became so long, I had to split it into two chapters. So now, here's the first chapter and then after this is the continuation to this one. Please send in reviews and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

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Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 1: Introduction Part 1

No One's POV:

In the town of Bellwood, everything is normal…almost too normal. Well, in truth, it's not normal. You see, in this town lives a local sixteen year old hero named Ben Tennyson aka Ben 10. When he was ten years old, he gained a powerful alien watch known as the Omnitrix, which allows him to turn into about a million aliens. He used it on his summer vacation with his Grandpa Max and cousin Gwen, fighting against evil. Then after a few years of wearing it, he decided to give up being a hero. But when he turned fifteen, and evil was once again afoot, he decided to put it back on to become a hero once again.

He gained two partners, his cousin Gwen and his former enemy turned best friend Kevin Levin. They saved the world hundreds, maybe thousands of times. Sixteen year old Ben is gonna get a big change. But this is not where our story begins. Our story begins two years ago when Ben and his two partners were fourteen/fifteen respectively and before Ben had put the Omnitrix back on and returned to his life as a hero. You see, there is one person that no one on the planet knew about except for a couple of certain groups of people and their family. A person that is not only very powerful, but very different as well…You are now about to find out who this person is and just what she is and what she can do. Our story starts in a large log cabin in the forest outside of Bellwood…

1 year before Alien Force Begins, 2 Years before Ultimate Alien and Omniverse Begins

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No One's POV:

In the forest outside of Bellwood, there lies a large but very well-hidden log cabin. It's almost like a mansion. In this cabin, only lives two people: A mother and a daughter. The mother is busy preparing something special she is going to give to her daughter. You want to know what for and why? Well, for that, I'll let the child of the mother aka Ruby, take over from here.

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Ruby's POV:

Hi, my name's Ruby Bloodmoon. I'm thirteen years old and I'm packing up some last minute things in my suitcases. Want to know why? Well, where I'm going to is very, very cool. I'm going to Plumbers' Academy. No, I'm not talking about fixing pipes, toilets and sinks! I'm talking about being an Intergalactic Police Officer. You see, there are normal Plumbers that fix toilets, sinks and pipes, and then there's the other Plumbers that fight crime in the universe as the intergalactic law enforcement of the universe. The latter is what I'm aiming to be. In Plumbers' Academy, you learn about justice in the universe and how to help others and using cool tech to help you fight. Plumbers are all types of humans and aliens! How cool is that?! I'm actually giddy about it to be honest! You want to know what I look like? Well, sure!

Well, at the moment I'm wearing my pajamas which consist of a black nightgown with sparkles on that make it look like the night sky that reaches to my knees and it has ruffle straps along with black spandex shorts. And yes, I'm a goth! I love Gothic fashion and you'll know why later. Now for my looks: I have creamy pale skin and as for my hair, I have long wild, messy, and yet soft, and beautiful dark brown hair that is almost black as it reaches down to the middle of my back and for some reason I've had natural Dark Red and Moonlight White highlights in my hair since I was born. I also have warm brown eyes, but sometimes they become blood ruby red. You want to know why? Well, that's because I'm not exactly normal.

As I said, the Plumbers are aliens and/or humans. Well, that's because I'm not human…well, not fully. Not only am I human, but I also have magical powers, and I'm also half loboan. What is that, you ask? Well, loboans are werewolf-like aliens. My father is a loboan and my mother is a human sorceress. I can shift between my human and loboan forms at any time. As a loboan, I'm smaller than other loboan females (same height and size as my human form) and I have more of my human form built then a normal loboan's, my face also maintains some of it's human appearance but still looks loboan.

My whole body is covered in sleek dark brown (almost black) fur (same color as my hair) and my hair (which is now my mane) grows longer (down to my tail) and wilder and messier (sometimes I have to tie it back) but still soft and beautiful and I still have my red and white highlights, my tail is just like my hair (except with some of the tips of my tail fur colored instead of highlighted). I have four claws on each of my hands and two claws on each of my feet, and my eye color turns blood ruby red but still look human (except when enraged then they look like loboan eyes).

Yeah, that's what I am: An alien werewolf-like being that can turn human and has magic powers in both forms! When I was younger, I always thought of myself as a freak, but my mother never did. She thought I was beautiful in either form. She always told me that looks never matter. What really matters is the person you are on the inside. As I've grown, I don't think of myself as a freak anymore. Want to know why? Well, you could say it all started when my parents first met another odd family who are now old family friends, a family called the Saturdays. Their also known as the Secret Saturdays, a family of scientists that find and learn about cryptids, creatures that normal science doesn't believe in. Their a part of the group called the Secret Scientists. They met my mom and dad before I was born and thought my dad was a real werewolf.

That was until they found out that he was an alien. They were shocked and dumbfounded, but they also wanted to learn more. After that, and after helping each other out on a few cryptid-related issues, they all became best friends! This was a year and a half before I was born. The Secret Saturdays included back were a couple named Doc and Drew. And then almost a year before I was born, they had baby boy, whom they named Zak Saturday. Since both of our parents are such close friends they often came around to visit or to discuss something cryptid-related with my parents. Needless to say Zak and I have known each other all our lives and during those short time-to-time visits we actually grew pretty close as friends, almost like siblings.

When I was nine (almost ten), I was planning on staying with the Secret Saturdays for the whole summer (at first). And as soon as I got there, Zak and I immediately started to catch up as we were both happy that I would be staying with them for awhile. Zak was eleven when I saw him again, and he was a cool big/little brother figure. The family has three cryptids who they consider to be part of the family too, two of which I already knew from my childhood with Zak, a gorilla cat named Fiskerton, who I call Fisky, a komodo dragon named Komodo, who I sometimes call Komo, and lastly the newest addition to the Secret Saturday family whom we met just a few days after I arrived, Zon, who I sometimes call Zonnie, a thought-to-be-extinct Pterosaur species.

I hung out with Zak and the cryptids (mostly Fisky) during the whole summer at the time. Their a lot of fun, and always saw me as a sister to them. I would get into a lot of trouble with Zak during major adventures of finding cryptids and beating bad guys, but I didn't mind. I went through a lot of adventures with the Saturdays for three years, even though I was only supposed to be with them for the summer. But I loved being around them. My adventures included major things including learning that Drew's long lost younger brother Doyle was alive, and was Van Rook's apprentice, finding out Zak is actually Kur, a super powerful cryptid, a massive cryptid war, and fighting an evil villain known as V.V. Argost.

Luckily, Argost got destroyed thanks to Zak, but Zak had nearly died, but luckily thanks to his parents and me, he actually made it back to the living! I was just glad he was back. No one else knows what caused the war except for the Secret Scientists, myself and my mother. I was twelve and Zak was thirteen when the war ended. It's now been a year since the war ended. I had returned home for good after the war, but that didn't mean I couldn't still visit them or they couldn't still visit me. We still visited each other when it was possible.

That's why I'm a little worried about leaving after everything that happened. I'm a bit reluctant to leave my second family behind along with my mother after everything we've been through and having helped the Saturdays save the world, returning back home to the secluded and serene forest and my mother after almost three years. But the Saturdays and mom all assured me that I should go for my dream. Now I bet you're wondering why I haven't said anything about my dad? Well…

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As I was about to say something, I had just zipped up my last suitcase as suddenly there's a knock on my bedroom door. I call out, "Come on in mom, I'm just about done." The door opens to reveal my mother. She looks almost exactly like me. She's 36 years old, and has long wavy beautiful brown hair, warm brown eyes and natural crimson highlights in her hair. She's wearing her own pajamas which is a red shirt and black pajama pants. I think you can tell where my human looks came from. My loboan looks came from my dad of course which includes my almost black hair and fur color and loboan eye color. My dad had loboan black fur and mane, along with red eyes.

My mother Scarlet smiles telling me, "Hey, Ruby. Are you excited and ready for tomorrow?" I smile with a wolf grin hopping up and down saying, "Yes! I can't wait!" Suddenly, my loboan ears popped out of my head and my tail popped out due to my excitement. My mom laughs at my excitement as I realized why she was laughing. I then try to pull my ears down in slight embarrassment and curl my tail up behind me. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention my loboan ears and tail pop out when I'm angry, excited, embarrassed, flustered, really happy, or when I get myself lost in music when I sing or dance.

Also, my eyes turn red when I'm angry, the same with fangs and claws coming out in my human form too. I'm also a bit of a singer. Luckily, being out in the woods, only the animals and my mother hear me sing and/or howl, so no one else knows I can do this, except for certain people and creatures, like the Saturday family, as well as the rest of the Secret Scientists, and the friends of my mother's that allowed me to go to Plumber Academy, and a couple of others.

My mother stops laughing as she tells me, "Well, I'm glad you're excited, Ruby. I am too. Now, I called Max and let him know about certain things when you get to the Academy. I told him that you'll have a room of your own because I know how much you like your privacy along with your own private bathroom and kitchen and in charge of your clothing choices. You won't have to wear the Plumber Academy outfit if you don't want to." I nod and tell her with a sad smile at the end, "Thanks, mom! I just hope I'll make friends while I'm there." My mother smiles at me sadly as she comes over and hugs me tightly telling me, "My Little Red Riding Wolf, I'm sure you will. They just need to know the real you like me, the animals, the Saturdays, the cryptids, the Plumbers and all of our friends on Earth do."

I smile slightly as I hug her back, knowing she is right. You see, in the woods, the animals like me due to me being part-loboan, basically that's being part animal in their book. They know I'd never hurt them, especially the other wolves that live nearby. As for the cryptids, I have this singing voice/howl has siren-like effect that can calm and soothe even the deepest of rage, and even put some to sleep or somewhat control them (Same for people, animals, and aliens. But for those that are pure evil of heart, it just sends them into distress and despair), basically my singing is somewhat similar to Zak's Kur powers, that's usually why we were always such a good team when we worked together. As for the Plumbers, one of them is known as Max Tennyson, a Magistor, that means a high-ranked Plumber. But he's also Ben Tennyson's grandfather.

Max, my mom and dad were all friends, including the other Plumbers. I had heard stories of Max's grandson, Ben saving the world with the Omnitrix, a powerful alien watch that turns him into aliens. Thus, another reason of wanting to be a Plumber, so one day I can work with him. We let go as I tell her, "It would be nice to make some new friends while I'm at the academy. Anyway, everything's packed and ready to go."

My mom smirks telling me, "Not everything, my Little Wolf." I tilt my head confusedly grunting, "Aroo?" Sometimes I also act like a dog. My mom laughs telling me as she goes to the door, "You are thirteen now, Ruby. Which means you must now make your own path. That is why I have something for you. It is time." I tilt my head confused once more as my mom comes back into the room carrying a big wooden chest with carved designs all over it as I look at the item shocked. I then ask my mother confused, "That's the chest in your bedroom! You told me never to open it!" My mother smiles as she places it on the floor in front of me saying, "That's because its for you. You can only get this chest when you come of age aka thirteen. It along with everything inside has been passed down in our family's clan from generation to generation, from mother to daughter. Our family worships the moon, respects and loves all forms of nature."

I look at my mother shocked as I then ask her, "So then I get to become…?" My mother nods saying, "Yes, you get to become the new Red Riding Hood sorceress, the same as I was when I was young." I suddenly smile a wolf grin as tail starts wagging like crazy as I howl excitedly, "AROOOOOO! YES, YES, YES!" My mother laughs with a big smile as she tells me, "I knew you'd like that! Why else do you think I named you Ruby and why my name is Scarlet?"

I calm down causing my tail to stop wagging as I ask her, "It's a part of our family's tradition, right?" She nods as she tells me with a smile, "That's right, it's tradition that our names are related to the color red or meaning red. Also, nicknames are allowed fore relating to Little Red Riding Hook. That is why me and your father have always called you Little Wolf and/or Little Red Riding Wolf. Thus that is why we are known as the Blood Moon Clan, thus that is why your name is Ruby Bloodmoon. And now the chest and everything inside is yours. Go on and open it."

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I smile in excitement as my tail started wagging again as I touch the chest, unlatch the latches on it and open it to see all of the magical items inside. I gasped at all of the cool magical items inside as my mother tells me, "Each item in this chest is magical, the perfect items for a Red Riding Hood. The first is our trademark, your very own Red Hooded Cloak. Try it on!" I grab the magical red-hooded cloak inside and I admire how cool and beautiful it looked. So I put on the cloak, latching it by the neck as I pull the hood up covering my head and ears. I spin around admiring how the cloak moves around as it reaches to my feet! I smile at this as once more, my tail is hidden within the cloak but my ears popped out of the hood. I guess there were magical slits that would appear when I wanted my ears to show.

My mother smiles and sighs in happiness, "Oh my Little Red Riding Wolf, You look so beautiful! It looks absolutely perfect! You are going to be a heartbreaker in the Academy." I laugh at that as she then tells me, "As I said, every item is magical, including the cloak. This cloak can magically change into any shade of red, be made from any fabric, be institched with any kinds of designs, be shorten and grow to any length, and can take on any style of outerwear tops while still maintaining the hood. There are other magical properties, but I'll let you figure those out. Try the other functions." I close my eyes and focus on how I want the cloak to look like. I imagine it to be: A maroon leather jacket with a loboan appliqué on the back. My mother gasps as I open my eyes and look down as I gasped as well. It came true! Mom was right. So I turned around and I saw the appliqué. Mom smiles telling me, "Good job, Ruby! That was perfect!"

I smile as well as I them imagine it back to normal as I take it off and fold it up putting it in one of my suitcases. Then I go back to the chest and pick up a wooden flute. The flute is beautifully handcrafted from mahogany wood with a leather string tied around the mouth piece with feathers tied on each end as my mother tells me, "The magical power this flute has is calming down any animal, cryptid, person, and alien. It's pretty much like how your howling and singing works. So you don't have to test this out since you've played the flute before." I nod as I set the flute on the bed. Then I pick up a book that was inside as it has a lock. This book is red and black and it has a magical lock on it. Attached to it is a black pen as my mom tells me, "This book is a magical diary with unlimited pages and the lock on the front can only be unlocked by you. So you won't have to worry about people trying to read it. It'll keep all your secrets safe."

The diary is incredible as I put it on my bed as I grab the other book that's inside. This book is black, red and white as the front of the book has a symbol of a blood red full moon with a shadowed silhouette of a wolf howling against it. My mother then tells me, "And that is your spell book. All the magic spells you'll ever need are inside. I'll let you learn and practice these on your own. If you pull a prank though with magic, don't get caught." I laugh at that telling her, "I promise, mom." Then I grab the final item in the chest, which is a hand carved wooden enchanted bow. I gasped in excitement as my tail starts wagging once more seeing the bow. Growing up, I was taught archery, how to hunt, and to survive in the wilderness with or without my powers. I loved archery the most. Thanks to my mom and everyone who knows me, I was taught how to fight at hand-to-hand combat, how to fight like a Loboan, and taught many forms of martial arts.

And you know who says this by now, "And that is an enchanted wooden bow which can create its own arrows when being prepared to shoot. It's also unbreakable and fireproof, and can transform into any weapon, but no high tech weapons. As of now, Ruby, you are now a Red Riding Hood Sorceress. Hold and use these items with dignity, grace, wisdom, and compassion, and they will never steer you wrong." I nod and tell her, "I will, mom. I promise." My mother nods as she then tells me, "Now, why don't you put all of these in your suitcases and I'll read to you your favorite story before you leave tomorrow?" I gasped and barked in excitement, realizing what that means as I say, "Yes, yes, yes!"

My mother laughs at my excitement as I put the things on my bed in my suitcases as fast as I can. My mother pulls out my favorite story book on my bookshelf as I get in my bed. My mother comes over to the bed as I look at the cover that I've gotten used to for years: The book is red with gold and silver designs and on it, is a picture of a woman wearing a red hood and a black furred loboan with red eyes. Yep, you've guessed it! That's my mother and father, Scarlet and Darius. My mom has read this story to me ever since I was born. This special fairy tale book shows how my mother and father met, fell in love, got married and what happened to my father. Basically, it's like another version of the classic fairytale, Little Red Riding Hood.

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And this is the end of the first half of the chapter called Introduction! Please review and read chapter 2 after this to know what happens next.


	2. Chapter 2 Introduction Part 2

Welcome to the continuation of Chapter 1! WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I thank you for taking the time to read this story. I hope you like this continuation, for it shows you all how Ruby's parents met and fell in love, Ruby going to Plumber Academy, befriending Rook and another being, and the beginnings of their first mission with Ben. The next chapter will come out as soon as possible. Due to life being busy for me, I'll only be able to update whenever I can. So there is no time limit, but I can tell you the next chapter will come out sometime next week. Please send in reviews and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

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Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 2: Introduction Part 2

No One's POV:

Scarlet opens the book and begins to tell her daughter the story of a magical love between loboan and human, "Once upon a time, there was a young woman. This young woman was filled with a special power, a special power beyond comprehension. She protects all of nature's creatures and respects and worships the moon as part of her family's tradition and the name of her family is called the Blood Moon Clan. From generation to generation, from mother to daughter, these people become Red Riding Hood Sorceresses, Protectors of Nature, Justice and Life. When the daughter of the family comes of age at thirteen, they become the new Red Riding Hood and became part of the Blood Moon legacy." Ruby smiles at this as she looks up at her mother as Scarlet smiles lovingly back at her, glad to see her daughter happy as she smiles even more seeing her daughter's ears pressed down and her tail wagging in happiness.

Scarlet continues with the story, "This young 21 year old woman was named Scarlet after the shade of red, as thanks to tradition of naming the daughter with a name meaning red or related to the color red. Scarlet's tale begins in a forest outside of a city called Bellwood. Scarlet had heard a rumor from the town of Bellwood as people kept saying there was a strange wolf-like creature causing mayhem and fear in the woods. Scarlet decided to go into the forest and confront this wolf creature, hoping to find out why it was here and if needed be, try to convince it to leave peacefully. She walks in the woods with her flute, diary and spell book in her bag and her magical bow strapped to her back. Her trademark red hooded cloak on her is in its original form. After a few hours, she is still looking around trying to find the creature. Luckily, she remembers all her family taught her in the art of magic, archery, hunting and wilderness survival.

As she walks around, she had no idea that the very creature she was looking for, was stalking her as well. This wolf creature had been stalking her since she entered the woods. The wolf could not help but feel drawn to her and he didn't know why. Something about her interested him and pulled him to her like a magnet to metal, though he could not figure out why. They both wound up in a small clearing far away from civilization. The wolf knew that his stalking had gone on long enough, so he decided to show himself to the alluring red cloaked human. So he stepped forward from behind her, but made the mistake of stepping onto a small twig, snapping it as Scarlet hears the snap and in a flash quick as lightning pulls out her bow and makes an arrow appear and turns around preparing to fire. At that particular moment, time seems to stop for the both of them as they both face each other and look into each other's eyes.

When the wolf creature looked at her, he felt a glowing warmth spread throughout his entire being. The pull he felt towards this human suddenly became stronger to the point where it was practically gravitational and completely unbreakable. Everything that he ever held dear to his heart or hated before had suddenly become severed, as the only thing that mattered to him now was the red cloaked human woman in front of him he didn't even know who still had him at arrow point.

Even though he can only see her eyes from under the red hood she wore, he could feel that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. At that moment, he knew that from that moment on, his life, his entire being, everything he was, now belonged entirely to Scarlet, she was his only reason for living now, he had imprinted on her. Scarlet, who still has her bow and arrow aimed at him, stares in wonder and awe, as she sees he is not an ordinary wolf, even though he is still cloaked in the shadows of the dark forest.

Suddenly, she feels her heart beating faster and her cheeks growing warmer. The wolf comes out of the shadows and reveals himself to her while Scarlet still looks into his eyes. The wolf growls out gently asking her, 'Who are you?' Scarlet looks at him shocked, not just because he talked, but because of not only how strong and rough his voice sounds, but also how soft and gentle it sounded at the same time. She still looks into his eyes, and even though they were somewhat feral, they held a gentle, and almost human-like essence.

She realizes that he won't hurt her, so she lowers her bow and removes her hood, fully revealing herself to him. The wolf looks at her in wonder and awe as he realizes he was right: She is the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Then Scarlet looks at the wolf as she now sees that he is not a normal wolf. The wolf creature is more werewolf as the creature has sleek black fur with a long flowing mane and has four claws on each hand and two claws on each foot, a bushy sleek black tail and blood red eyes. Seeing him, Scarlet was now curious about him as well as flustered and infatuated with him. The same as the wolf was about her. After all, he had never seen a human before and he also wonders why he imprinted on her. Scarlet tells the wolf, while blushing a little, 'You first.'

The wolf looks at her shocked as he awkwardly tells her, since she is the first human he has ever spoken to, 'Darius, Darius Wolfblood.' Scarlet smiles a little as she then tells him, 'And I am Scarlet, Scarlet Bloodmoon. What are you doing here, why are you here and what exactly are you? You are unlike the wolves that live around here.' Darius laughs saying, 'That's because I'm not from this world. I am known as a Loboan. You could say I am what you earth beings call 'a werewolf', only without a human form, and from space instead of earth.'

Scarlet's eyes light up in understanding as she tells him, 'An alien werewolf!? I have heard many stories and legends about werewolves from many cultures in many parts of the world, but never have I ever heard of anything like this! Fascinating, truly fascinating.' Darius smiles at seeing her interested in him as he continues, 'Is that so? Well, I have to admit, from the way you humans see werewolves here, it's no wonder why people have been so afraid of me whenever they see me. As for where I come from, I came from a planet called Anur Transyl in a solar system called the Anur System where creatures such as myself and others reside in peace and harmony. Or as much as we can anyway.'

Scarlet looks at him confused and asks him, 'What do you mean?' Darius tells her, 'An ectonurite alien, or 'a ghost alien' as you would call him, known as Zs'Skayr was the High Ecto-Lord of Anur Phaetos and Anur Transyl in the Anur System. He is twisted, arrogant and sadistic. He causes pain, fear and misery. He came onto Anur Transyl to bring us trouble. So I decided to escape his tyranny. I built my spaceship and got out just in time. I came here to Earth hoping someone could help me free my people.

I had heard about a group of people calling themselves Plumbers, an intergalactic police force that could help Anur Transyl. That's why I'm here, to help my people by any means necessary. I'm not here to harm anyone.' After talking for a little while longer about the threat on Anur Transyl and Scarlet talking to him about some things on Earth, Scarlet reached a decision. Even though she just met Darius and doesn't know him all that well, she feels that she can trust him and wants to keep him safe from harm.

So she decides she wants to keep him safe from Zs'Skayr. Scarlet then tells Darius, 'Then you can stay here. I was hoping to move into this forest anyway, I can keep you safe here, away from prying eyes and your enemies. And I will also help you find the Plumbers and help you free your people.' Scarlet smiles as Darius looks her shocked, but then smiles a wolf smile and holds out one of his hands to her as he tells her, 'Thank you, Scarlet. I'm forever in your debt.'

Scarlet brings out her hand and shakes his hand and with that, not only was a deal struck, but a new friendship was made and unknowingly, true love was beginning to form. After spending some more time together over the next few months, the both of them met a couple known as the Saturdays. They were from a group known as the Secret Scientists, where this group studies cryptids, creatures that normal science could not explain, and other paranormal phenomena. The couple, Doc and Drew Saturday, first thought that Darius was a real werewolf. But when he told them what he was as Scarlet helped him explain, they were in shock!

Over time, they became friends and helped each other in cryptid related issues when they came up. During those few months, Darius and Scarlet met up with the plumbers as Darius got a shock: It turned out Scarlet knew about the Plumbers as some of them were friends of hers including an old man known as Maxwell Tennyson also known as Max. Scarlet explained to Max and the rest of the Plumbers about Darius's problem, thus they decided to help in any way they can. Over those next few months and getting to know each other some more, and Darius finally telling Scarlet about him imprinting on her and explaining what it was and what it meant, they both decided to be together for good.

Thus, the two of them built a large mansion-like but very well-hidden log cabin in the woods. Luckily, this was possible somewhat thanks to Scarlet's magic, especially to decide what they wanted inside. Soon after that, they both got married and had a private forest marriage ceremony thanks to Max Tennyson, the other Plumber friends and the Secret Saturdays. As they got married, Darius agreed to take on Scarlet's family name whereas he be named Darius Bloodmoon, but he'd prefer to called Darius only. Scarlet and Darius were beyond happy. Heck Darius even nearly forgotten about the problems his home world had. In other words, he and his new wife/mate were very happy together.

But they were even happier nine months later, when Scarlet gave birth to a beautiful half human, half loboan baby girl that had soft and beautiful dark brown almost black fur and hair that had red and white streaks through her hair, red and white tipped fur on her tail and blood ruby red eyes. They decided to name the child Ruby for her eyes and for the fact that she was born in July on a full moon. And because the gemstone color and name was for July. Ruby smiles at the mention of her as she listened to the story with rapt attention.

Scarlet continues, nearing the end, "The couple loved their daughter with all their hearts as she was their pride and joy. Though Ruby had a bit of trouble controlling her magical powers and shifting between human and loboan forms, they would always try to help her and were always there for her. Darius fell in love with his little girl the moment he saw her and was quite close with her. He even nicknamed her, as Little Red Riding Wolf. He would take her to see the animals and help them when they were in trouble, he'd even take her to see fireworks, but would hide in the shadows. In other words, this unusual family was very happy and lived a peaceful, warm, and loving life together and they figured nothing could ever separate them. But of course, fate would intervene…" Scarlet pauses, knowing what happens next as Ruby holds her mother's hand letting her know she's here for her.

Scarlet smiles sadly at her and pats her head as she continues, "When Ruby turned four years old, Darius was called in on a mission with the Plumbers. This mission involved Anur Transyl. Darius had to leave as he knew that as much as it hurt him to leave his beloved family behind, it was time to return to his home planet and finish what he had set off to do in the first place when he first came to earth, but he promised his wife and child that he would return to them as soon as he could. To get to the Anur System and back to earth along with doing their mission, would take two weeks. Two weeks later, the Plumbers came back, but not Darius. While on Anur Transyl, he had suddenly disappeared without a trace. Since then, no one was able to find him.

When Scarlet was told of this, she had cried for weeks. both Max and the Secret Saturdays had always come in to help calm her down and talk to her, but sadly it didn't always work. Immediately, there was a search party, but for as long and as hard as they searched, no one was able to find him, or figure out what happened to him. Scarlet was so heartbroken, she didn't even realize her daughter needed her. But when she did, Scarlet realized she wasn't alone. She still had her daughter and she still had hope. To this day, Scarlet still believes that Darius is still alive and will return home to them. And when he does, nothing would ever separate them ever again."

* * *

No One's POV:

Ruby smiles as tears fall from her eyes, as she loves how the story has always made her cry. From missing her father, remembering what he'd do for her when she was little and everything else about him. Scarlet hugs her daughter and rubs her back as she calmly tells her, "I know, Little Red Riding Wolf, I miss him too. But we can't give up hope. He would be so proud of you if he could see you right now." Ruby nods and hugs her back for a few minutes as they then let go as Ruby tells her, "Do you think I could find my imprintee like how dad found you?" Scarlet nods telling her, "Definitely. Love like that has absolutely no boundaries, my Little Red Riding Wolf. There is someone for everyone in the universe, even for you. All you have to do is find him. And remember you are never alone."

Ruby nods as Scarlet then tells her, "I have one last gift for you before you leave tomorrow." Ruby looks at her excited to find out what the gift is as her ears go up and her tail starts wagging again. So Scarlet tells her as she hands her the storybook, "It's yours now. For good." Ruby looks at the book shocked as she starts to smile as he tail wags even more as Scarlet continues telling her, "Tonight is the last time I'll be able to read this to you for a while, since you'll be leaving tomorrow. That's why I'm giving you the book along with the chest since it's so precious to you. You can read the book whenever you feel sad or lonely, as it always cheers you up and makes you smile." Ruby smiles, hugging her mother telling her, "Thanks, mom!" Scarlet laughs telling her, "Your welcome, Sweetie. Now, get to bed! You need your rest."

Ruby nods as she puts the book in one of her suitcases and gets under the covers in her bed as Scarlet tells her daughter while petting her head, "Good night, my child. May the moon bless you with sweet dreams tonight." Scarlet gets up to leave as Ruby snuggles into the bed and whimpers a little like a dog as Scarlet leaves the bedroom, heading to bed as well. As she does, she looks out a window looking up at the star-filled night sky and the full moon and says, "Wherever you are Darius, I hope you're safe." The woman finally goes to bed and hopes to have good dreams tonight.

* * *

Ruby's POV:

Today's the day! I just woke up from bed as I yawned like a wolf and got up seeing my suitcases and realized today's the day! I bark in excitement as my ears and tail pop out as my tail wags as I quickly start to get dressed. Today, I'm wearing red and black woman-fitted Proto-Tech Armor. The parts that look like armor are red while the rest is black. I also put on a small ragged slightly torn-looking gothic dark red corset dress over it, black laced-up medieval-style archery glove on my right hand, and now my new magical red hooded cloak as the hood is up. The clasp holding it together is silver wolf head attachment. I look at myself in the mirror and I look incredible! But I feel something is missing. I put my thinking face on wondering what it is as I gasp realizing what I'm missing.

I go to my suitcase and pick up my enchanted wooden bow as I strap it around my back and now I look perfect! I then grab my suitcases and walk out to the living room, and when I get there, Max Tennyson was already there talking to my mom. They heard me as Max tells me, "Ah, there you are Ruby." I walk down the stairs telling him, "Hi, Magistor Tennyson." Max laughs as he tells me, "Ruby, you know you can call me Grandpa Max." I laugh and tell him, "I know." My mom then tells me, "Max wants you and him to get going as soon as possible. So I can only give you beef jerky and apple slices for breakfast." I nod and tell her, "That's fine, mom." With that, Grandpa Max and I start grabbing my bags as we put them in his RV. It looks cruddy, but it actually runs really well…sometimes. I had just put everything inside as I grabbed the beef jerky and apple slices from mom and gave them to Grandpa Max to put inside.

He goes in the RV telling me, "Ready when you are." I nod as I go to my mom and hug her tightly before leaving as she tightly hugs me back and tells me, "Remember to write sweetie." I nod and tell her, "I will. Keep me updated." Mom nods as she tells me, "Good luck, sweetie. Find good friends. And remember, the very first friend you make, is the most important one." I nod and go to the RV when suddenly all of the animals in the forest appear which included birds, squirrels, deer, raccoons, foxes, and wolves.

They all came to see me off! The birds chirped, hawked, and hooted, the squirrels and raccoons chattered, The deer stood watching in a gentle silence giving me a silent goodbye and good luck, the foxes barked and yelped, and wolves howled in celebration. I howled to all of the animals as a thank you as I get in the RV and Grandpa Max takes off for the city of Bellwood. Grandpa Max begins talking to me about my fashion choices and my room up at the Academy letting me know what I need to know about it.

He got me to the Plumber Base underneath Bellwood and onto a ship heading for the Academy. He had told me goodbye as I was taken on the ship for Plumber Academy along with other Plumbers-In-Training. Everyone had looked at me strangely and started to talk, probably because of my cloak. To be honest, this is my first social interaction with anybody besides my mom, the animals, the Secret Saturdays and the Secret Scientists and cryptids, Grandpa Max and a few Plumbers. Because of that, my loboan ears and tail popped out as my ears were still hidden under my hood and my tail was hidden in my cloak.

Now I'm really in trouble! I've been alone for so long, I never talked with anybody outside my family's friends before. Now I was scared of where I wanted to sit! I start to whimper in slight fear as I grabbed the edge of my hood with both hands and pulled it down over my face as I close my eyes and held my head down when suddenly, someone came towards me as they asked me, "Excuse me, Miss? I cannot help but notice you look frightened. Are you alright?" I stop whimpering in fear as I opened my eyes, lift my hood up a little and looked up to see the person who spoke to me. And I'm glad I did. Because as soon as I saw the person that spoke to me, my heart skipped a beat as I started feeling a very strong magnetic pull towards the one who spoke to me, and also felt a glowing warmth spreading through me as well!

The being I saw was an alien, but this alien was different from the others my mother told me about from her missions as an assistant Plumber. This alien is a tall cat-like alien, with periwinkle-blue colored fur, black markings on his face and pointed ears. The middle of his face is white, and I can only guess from other cats that I know of, his chest and stomach are probably white. He probably has black stripes underneath his clothes too. He also has three lines on top of his head, but that could be his hair. But the most interesting part of him I like on him is his eyes. He has yellow sclera unlike humans who have white sclera, he has red eyes and black pupils. Together, it's like his eyes are the color of amber, like a sunset. I think I now have two new favorite colors: Periwinkle Blue and Amber.

When I looked up at him, he had looked in my eyes as well. And suddenly, time seemed to stop as we look into each other's eyes. When I looked in his eyes, I felt just like how my mom described my dad when he imprinted on her. The magnetic pull I felt towards this alien was practically gravitational and unbreakable, and everything I held close to my heart, as well as the hatred I had for my enemies, suddenly became severed from my entire being, and the only thing that mattered to me now, as well as the rest of my life, was the alien guy standing right in front of me.

My loboan ears stood up in my hood and my tail started wagging underneath the cloak. This reminded me so much of how my mom and dad met, and just like that, even though I had only just met him not 30 seconds ago, I had imprinted on him. Everything that I was and what made me what I was, my heart, my soul, my entire being, belonged to him and only him now and forever. Right then, I knew my life would also change forever as well.

* * *

Rook's POV:

My name is Rook Blonko, and I come from the planet Revonnah, thus I am known as a Revonnahgander. We call each other by the last part of our names thanks to our culture, so I am called Blonko by my family. Any word with contractions, my kind do not say for it is considered bad language. My planet is a farming planet, so not much happens there. That is why I decided to be a Plumber: To help others from different planets if possible and be like the earth hero Ben 10 that has saved the universe many times before. This is what I wanted to be and do, but my father would not allow it, even though the rest of my family agreed with it.

Mostly my sisters and younger brother agreed and wished me luck, my mother told me to stay safe, while my father did not say a thing. But I do not regret my decision. The ship came to Revonnah as I got inside with my things as the ship would take us to different planets to pick up other soon-to-be Plumbers. One of them was Anur Transyl, where only one Plumber-To-Be was coming. It was a strange wolf like alien. He has grey fur and somewhat a white face.

He introduced himself to me saying his name was Scout and that he is an alien known as a Loboan. We talked for a while as the spaceship kept going on to find new Plumbers. During that, time, Scout and I decided to become friends. The final planet we were heading to was Planet Earth. Scout and I started talking as we were waiting to see what new Plumbers were coming as Scout tells me, "Just one more planet and soon, we'll be learning how to be Plumbers." I nod telling him, "Yes, I cannot wait to get there as well. I wonder why Earth was last?" Scout shrugs his shoulders saying, "Beats me. Maybe there's a special reason why. Maybe the famous Ben 10 is going to be joining us at the academy."

After hearing this, I could not help but wonder if the famous Ben 10 was really going to be accompanying us to the academy. But those thoughts were dashed when suddenly, murmurs erupt from the other Plumber cadets as they look at something, or rather, someone strange as Scout and I look as well. What I saw confused me, standing at the front of the ship was not the famous Ben 10, but instead it was a person in a long red hooded cloak. Everyone started to talk about this person, and I can tell even with the cloak on, this person is female, so it could not be Ben 10.

But she looks scared for some reason. She looks human and I can see warm brown eyes from under the hood she has on and I couldn't help but stare. Scout looks at the girl with wide eyes as he says, "Okay, she's not Ben 10, but maybe she's the special reason. But what's up with the cloak though? Is she trying to hide or something?" Scout suddenly sniffs the air as he tells me, "Hey, I think I can smell something on her. What is that scent? It smells really familiar, but at the same time, it's different somehow."

But I did not hear what he said. I was too busy looking at the girl in concern. Suddenly, she pulls her hood down over her face and closes her eyes and I think she was starting to whimper in fear as she puts her head down. For some reason, I did not like seeing her like this as I get out of my seat and walk toward her as I ask her, "Excuse me, Miss? I cannot help but notice you look frightened. Are you alright?" She stops whimpering in fear, lifts her hood up a little, opens her eyes and looks up seeing me for the first time. I did not know why but I could not help but stare into her eyes with wonder and awe. She kept staring at me, and I could not help but blush as my heart starts beating rapidly in my chest as I felt something come over me. Suddenly, Scout comes up behind me as asks me, "Hey, you okay there, buddy?"

The girl and I snapped out of our shared trance as I tell him, "Yes, I am okay, Scout." The girl finally talks saying in a small voice, "I'm sorry if I was staring at you. It's just this is my first time being away from home and going off planet, and I'm a bit nervous." She finally speaks, and her voice is so beautiful. I smile at her and tell her, "You do not need to be nervous, Miss. This is our first time away from our planets as well. It is the same with everyone here." Suddenly, the girl smiles underneath her hood saying, "Then I guess I'm not alone after all. What are your names?" Scout answers telling her, "My name is Scout. I come from Anur Transyl." I notice the girl looking up with interest at this the moment Scout said this. Then I tell the girl, "And I am Rook Blonko. I come from Revonnah." The girl smiles at me as she pulls off her hood, revealing herself to everyone and us. Immediately, everyone looks at her in awe seeing her looks.

And I immediately feel that I may have met the most beautiful woman in my life. The girl then tells us, "My name is Ruby Bloodmoon. I've lived on Earth my whole life." Ruby, what a beautiful name. Scout then asks her, "Excuse me for asking this Ruby, and I don't even know why, but there's a strange smell on you. Have you by any chance been around my kind recently?" Ruby suddenly starts flinching for some reason as she looks down and a blush appears on her face and starts looking nervous and embarrassed as I then tell Scout frowning, "Scout, that was not kind. Maybe she has been around creatures that are like your kind, that could be why she has the scent on her."

Ruby looks at me wide-eyed as Scout looks at me wide-eyed as well as he then looks ashamed and apologizes to Ruby, "Sorry about that, Ruby. Maybe I misjudged." Ruby smiles telling us, "You're forgiven Scout. And Rook is somewhat right about me being around creatures that are like your kind, you're probably just smelling their scent on me since I hang around them so much" We then noticed everyone staring at us and new recruits coming as Ruby tells us, "Why don't we go sit down now? We're kind of blocking the way from everyone else."

When we realized that, we go to our seats as Ruby is sitting with us as we get her things above us in one of the compartments. As soon as we all sat down, Ruby tells us, "Thank you. Does this mean we're friends? Because if that's so, that would make you two my first off-worlder friends ever." Scout and I look at each other and we both nod in agreement as I tell her, "Yes, you are our friend." Ruby smiles telling us, "Thank you. Well, let's hope that the three of us become the best Plumbers that we can be!" Scout and I agreed and I had a feeling that somehow, my life will change forever thanks to meeting Ruby.

* * *

A little over 2 years later when Omniverse begins

Ruby's POV:

A little over two years have passed since I began training at the Plumbers' Academy and made friends with Rook Blonko and Scout. When we got to the Academy, I was shown to my room which had a private bathroom and my own kitchen. Luckily, I had no roommate. But while I was at the Academy, Scout and Rook would come to my room and we'd help each other with homework and just hang out. I had gotten earth foods for my kitchen so I wouldn't miss the taste of Earth. I even introduced my two friends to my mom's famous Apple Pie with Cinnamon. They gulfed it down like it was the only food in the world!

Unfortunately, Rook and Scout found out by accident that I'm half-loboan and a magic user. But seeing as how it's kind of embarrassing to talk about I'll leave that story out, for now anyway. And so, after they found out my little secret, I told them exactly what I was, what I can do and my parents. They were shocked, but they understood the reasons why I hid in the first place. Because of that, we became closer friends. Over time during these two years, I got to know more about Rook's and Scout's home worlds. When I found out Scout came from Anur Transyl, I became really interested in the world where my father was from, and I had even asked him if he had any idea where my father, Darius was, or if he's ever heard of him for that matter. I told him what he looked like, but Scout said that while the name and description sounded familiar, he's never seen him and doesn't know anything else about him.

I had also learned about Rook's home world being a farm planet and traditions and cultures there that are similar to those of some Asian cultures, thus placing a great emphasis on tradition and general dislike of outsiders. I think it's a good thing he left. Rook wanted to get out to do something more important with his life, so he did. But he still follows his traditions and culture, and cares and respects his family very much. The both of them even got to know about me, especially who and what I am, my Earth cultures, along with the reasons why I wore my clothes and my name, as well as my reasons for wanting to become a Plumber. I also told Rook and Scout about my time with the Secret Saturdays and all the adventures and experiences I had while traveling, learning under and living with them. They were so jealous that I got more experience than they did!

As we were staying at the Plumber Academy, we learned together, we trained together, we bonded together. But out of the three of us, Rook and I bonded the most of all due to my imprinting on him. Rook became my very first best alien friend and Scout became my second best alien friend. The only problem was that I never told Rook about him being my Imprintee. I didn't know how he'd react about learning that we were soulmates and that I practically belonged to him for life and that he was practically my only reason for living now.

But I knew that I'd have to tell him eventually, I just had to find the right time and place and figure out a way to break it to him and explain it to him gently without freaking him out and possibly having our friendship ended. Either way, Plumber Academy came to a close and we graduated…Well, I graduated. How you ask? Well, for one I graduated early due to me being a little smarter than everyone. That and Rook and Scout would get sick sometimes.

Even though the Academy was supposed to be a sterile environment, somehow they'd get sick. Luckily, I always took care of them after my classes. So whenever they missed a day, they'd have to retake their classes after Graduation, which means they wouldn't officially graduate until they finished those classes. As soon as I graduated, Grandpa Max had appeared and hugged me, telling me he was proud and that mom was watching the whole thing at Plumber base and waiting for me to come home.

Grandpa Max had told me and Rook that we were both going to be assigned to Earth helping Ben 10 by being his new partners once Rook was finished while Scout had decided he wanted to go back to Anur Transyl. Rook and I were excited that we were going to work together with Ben 10, especially since the both of us fight better together. We would miss Scout, but we'd try and contact each other when we could, he also told me that when he got back to Anur Transyl, he would try to find any info he could on my dad and let me know if he found anything. Something I was deeply grateful for.

Before I left with Grandpa Max back to Earth, I hugged Rook tightly, telling him that I couldn't wait to work with him on Earth. Rook said the same thing as he told me he could not wait either. Grandpa Max and I made it back to Earth where mom was waiting as she hugged me to death, proud that I graduated and happy that I was finally home. And I bet you're wondering where I am right now?

Well, I had anxiously, and also quite physically and emotionally painfully, been waiting about two weeks for Rook to come to Earth, but he hadn't showed up yet. I began to worry, as I had been very miserable ever since I left Rook behind at the Academy. So I told my mother where I was going as she nodded, luckily knowing why I was doing this. So I teleported to Plumber HQ's garage, as I was going to ask Grandpa Max what was taking Rook so long to arrive. But as soon as I was in the garage of the HQ, I heard someone ask me, "Ruby, why do you look so worried?"

I flinch in shock as I turn around and see Rook! He is wearing blue and black Proto-Tech Armor and has a strange weapon on his back. I stare at him for a few moments before I shout and howl in happiness as my loboan ears and tail pop out as I run toward him and accidentally knock him down to the floor as I fall on top of him and hug him in a tight hug, "ROOK!" Rook smiles with a small blush on his face as he hugs me back just as tight and tells me, "I have missed you too, my friend. Why were you worried?" I reluctantly get off of him as we stand back up and let go of each other as I tell him, "You were supposed to come here earlier, Rookie. What happened up there?!" Over time in the Academy, I gave Rook a nickname: Rookie. I thought it sounded cute. Especially since it was also ironic as he has never had bad guy fighting experience before.

Rook scowls telling me, "Let me just say it had to do with the Vreedle Brothers." I look at him shocked and angry, "You mean Dumb 1 and Dumb 2?! What the heck did they do this time?!" Rook tells me with a glare, "They are the lowest beings in the universe! They destroyed the Plumber Academy's ammunition dump and the Academy itself!" My jaw dropped in shock as I tell him, "Oh my gosh! Were you and Scout alright?!"

Rook nods telling me, "Yes, we were okay, and so was everyone else that had to retake classes. But thanks to them, Scout and I had to take our final exam in a temporary trailer on an asteroid!" I blinked at him in shock and sympathy as I tell him with a smile trying to calm him down, "That must have been pretty bad. I'm really sorry about that, Rookie. But at least you're here now, that's all that matters right? And if it makes up for anything, I really missed you while you were still up there. I just couldn't wait for you to get here so we could start working together and catch up."

Rook smiles telling me, "Yes, you are right, Ruby. And that does make up for something as I too have missed you just as much. I also could not wait to arrive here on Earth and start working and catching up with you. In fact, if I remember correctly, I have been assigned a room here, would you mind helping me get to it?" I eagerly smile and nod telling him, "Sure. Come on, and maybe after we get you settled, I can show you around Bellwood."

Rook and I start walking into the HQ, but suddenly, my clasp badge starts beeping. You see, the clasp on my red hooded cloak is my Plumber badge. Grandpa Max's voice comes out as he tells me, "Ruby, I need you and Rook for a moment, Ben's going to need help. He's on a mission where stores are being destroyed. I want you two at Mr. Bauman's shop. We believe his store will be next since he also serves aliens." So I tell Grandpa Max through the badge, "Got it, Grandpa. We're on our way now."

I smirk and tell Rook, "Well, Rookie, looks like our first mission came sooner than expected. Are you ready to have some fun?" Rook nods with a smirk of his own saying, "I am ready, alright." I then use my teleportation powers to get us to Mr. Bauman's shop, as we get ourselves prepared to help Ben 10.

* * *

And that is the end of this chapter! This was long and a little hard to do, but it's done. I will not leave questions on this story, because that would mean leaving spoilers. So you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out what comes next. Please review!


	3. CH 3 The More Things Change Part 1 (1)

Welcome to the newest story! This one is very special and going to be a lot of fun. WolfWitchHuntress1318 has been helping me make this story, so I hope you like this chapter. Real quick, starting now, this story is in No One's POV. Please send in positive reviews and enjoy! It would make me happy and help me continue to write! And while you read this, know that this is how I always write my stories starting beginning on the episode 'til the end. It makes things more exciting for me. Also, Rook and Ruby are not in this chapter, but they will be in the next one! Have fun reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 3: The More Things Change Part 1 (1)

5 Years Before Omniverse Begins, and 1 Year After Original Series

A year has passed since Ben Tennyson got the Omnitrix, a powerful alien watch which allowed him to turn into numerous aliens. He used it on his summer vacation when he was 10 to fight bad guys as his Grandpa Max and his older cousin, Gwen, helped him fight those bad guys. Ben became a hero and still continues to fight bad guys to help and save people. Ben is now eleven years old and is on a trip with Grandpa Max and Gwen. He had ventured out in the woods, when suddenly out of nowhere, a black and red alien appeared, calling himself Malware.

He looked like a corrupted Upgrade, an alien that Ben uses. Ben immediately figured out he was a bad guy and used the Omnitrix to turn into Four Arms, a humanoid alien that is twelve feet tall, well-developed muscles, two pairs of four-fingered arms, and red skin. He also has four eyes, a white t-shirt with a black line going down it, black pants, and fingerless gloves as the green Omnitrix symbol is on his upper left shoulder and has green eyes. Ben/Four Arms takes action as the fight begins between him and Malware. Some time later, an explosion erupts causing nearby birds to fly away. The evil alien punches Ben/Four Arms once as he tried to back away. Malware then charges for him, then leaps into the air and tries to punch him to the ground, but Ben/Four Arms back leaps away just in time, missing the punch as it made contact to the ground.

Then the evil alien plunges his hands into the earth making boulder like things erupt from the ground coated in black and red head for the hero, until one of them hits Ben/Four Arms, causing him to be thrown away from the fight. Ben/Four Arms hits a few trees and hits the ground. But he manages to get up, but Malware comes after him, blasting away the trees. He then fires another blast of energy at Ben/Four Arms, but the hero leapt away just in time but he still got hit by part of the explosion. But he still manages to get up as he then tells the bad alien in his deep voice, "All right, fine. I wanted to do this the easy way, but the hard way is okay, too." He pounds all four of his fists together menacingly, as he's itching for some butt kicking. He runs over to a tree and lifts it up with his strength as the tree is ripped from the roots.

Malware leaps into the air, as Ben/Four Arms yells out, "FORE!" But then he adds quietly, jokingly, "…Arms." He chuckles a little and swings the massive tree like a baseball bat hitting the evil alien, but it went right through him. The evil alien then tells Ben/Four Arms, disappointedly, "This is the great Ben Tennyson, Bearer of the Omnitrix, Savior of the Univ-!" He wasn't able to finish as Ben/Four Arms hits him once more with tree, making its mark as the alien falls to the ground with a few bounces until he hits a tree making it break and fall down as he's against the tree. Ben/Four Arms walks up to the evil alien telling him, "And don't you forget it, buddy. You think you're the only Galvanic Mechamorph I've ever dealt with?" Ben/Four Arms scoffs as he then tells the evil alien, "It's gonna take a lot more to surprise me."

Malware raises his head as he says evilly, "Indeed." Suddenly, the evil alien touches the Omnitrix symbol, making it glow green as he pins Ben/Four Arms to the ground making him grunt in pain as the Omnitrix powers down. The evil alien lets go as the Omnitrix times out, turning Ben/Four Arms back into his original form: Eleven year old, Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, aka Ben 10. The boy stands up, realizing what happened as he complains saying, "Aw, man!" The young hero is wearing a black-striped, white shirt with short sleeves, green cargo pants, black and white shoes with black stripes and the Omnitrix is on his left wrist.

Ben then tries to get the watch to work as it beeps and sputters as the Malware stands over him, asking him before he takes him down, "Any last pithy quips or clever observations before I destroy you, Ben Tennyson?" So Ben tells him, not afraid, "Okay. If you're gonna stand there blabbing at me, Malware, at least pop a breath mint, will ya?" Malware looks confused and a little irritated, when suddenly the OMnitrix beeps and powers up as Ben smirks, as he slams his hand down, as he turns into another alien called Feedback. Feedback is mostly black and white as he has one green eye in the middle of his head. He has two antennae and a tail that feature plugs on their tips, four fingers on each hand with similar plugs on the tip of each finger and only two front toes and the Omnitrix symbol is on his chest. Ben/Feedback cheerfully says, "Oh, yeah – Feedback!"

Malware goes to punch him, but Ben/Feedback leaps and back flips away behind Malware as the evil alien turns around. Malware goes to punch him again, but Ben/Feedback grabs his fist with his own fist, kicks him away and puts his finger plugs on Malware along with the plugs on his antennaes on him, siphoning the energy from him. Then when he lets go, he blasts Malware with all that energy blasting him far away as Ben/Feedback excitedly says as he leaps into the air making it look like he dunked a basketball into a hoop, "He shoots! He scores!" But as he did, the Omnitrix timed out, as Ben turned back to normal as he yells, falling to the ground. But he flips up with new energy as he exclaims, "Yeah, you better run!" But then he groans at the dull pain in his butt.

* * *

5 Years Later as Omniverse Begins

In Ben's hometown of Bellwood, 16 year old Ben and Gwen Tennyson, and 17 year old Kevin Levin are chasing after an evil villain known as Zombozo a sick and sadistic zombie clown. Their chasing him on a skyscraper as Ben yells out to him, "Yeah, you better run!" All three teenagers are chasing Zombozo whose holding a container that holds a brain inside as he laughs evilly. He leaps onto a building as the three teenagers follow him. Gwen fires a mana blasts at Zombozo to trip him up, but he dodges each one with his stretching arms making him move away from said blasts. Zombozo leaps off the building as the teenagers follow as the zombie clown crashes through a window and into a room the building opposite of the one he leaped from. As he did so, Gwen creates a mana slide as the three teenagers side down it, landing in the building.

But Zombozo managed to get up and get back to running as Gwen fires another mana blast, knocking Zombozo down as the brain container flung out of his grip as Kevin yells, "I got it!" He drops and slides down grabbing the container just in time as he also hits Zombozo who got up, who has now fallen down again. He starts to get up, but Ben and Gwen are in front of him as Gwen asks Zombozo incredulously, "Really, Zombozo? What kind of sicko steals from a brain bank?" Kevin asks Gwen questioningly as he holds the container, "Why does Bellwood even have a brain bank?" In their talk, Zombozo stretched one of his arms to grab the container back as Zombozo stands up telling Kevin, "Thank you, my boy! A mind is a terrible thing to waste." He runs to the window and jumps out of it, hops from a veranda to escape as he lands on the road causing a semi to stop as Zombozo starts running off.

A car zooms by as he runs off as Ben, from the window, hops off and onto the veranda as he asks the Omnitrix as he leaps once more, "Come on! Give me something good!" He slams down the Omnitrix and turns into an alien known as Lodestar. Lodestar is a magnetic humanoid alien who has a magnetically floating metal head which is levitating in an arch between his shoulders. He has crab-like claws for hands and his body is mainly black with yellow feet, thighs, hands, shoulders, and chest. Lodestar also has a yellow eyebrow-like crest on his forehead, his head is skull-shaped, Lines beneath his mouth, the glow around his head is green, and the Omnitrix symbol is on his chest. Ben/Lodestar tells himself as he lands, "Not what I was going for, but I can work with this."

Kevin hops down from the window and onto the veranda as he then leaps to the semi truck and absorbs the metal from it, covering him from head to toe as he tells Ben/Lodestar, "On it!" Ben/Lodestar activates his powers as Kevin leaps to him as Ben/Lodestar uses his magnetic powers to grab Kevin and throws him toward Zombozo with great power from his green magnetic pulses as Kevin thrown to Zombozo, and grabs him, making him and Zombozo fall and hit the ground as the brain is now away from Zombozo. The zombie clown gasps, realizing what happened as runs for his brain as he gasps saying, "My brain! I'm losing my mind!" But Kevin runs behind him and grabs him, but Zombozo managed to kick him in the jaw.

Zombozo gets back upand goes after the brain, but Gwen appears firing a mana blast, knocking Zombozo away. But the zombie clown still gets up an stretches his arm to grab the container and tries to run off with it. Kevin tries to go after him, but Zombozo kicks him away. Sudddenly, the brain container is being pulled away thanks to Ben/Lodestar with his magnetic powers. Zombozo struggles to hang onto it. Ben/Lodestar finally grabs it as Zombozo let go as finally the zombie clown faints from exhaustion.

Some time later, Zombozo is tied up with rope as he then tries to struggle out of them as the sun starts to come up as Gwen, Kevin and Ben are having a talk. Over time, Ben's style had changed along with Gwen and Kevin. Right now, Ben is wearing a black shirt that has a green stripe in the middle with a white 10 and green stripes on the sides of his shirt, brown pants with pockets at the knees and green and white tennis shoes and as always his Omnitrix is on his left wrist.

The Omnitrix has went through upgrades in years as Ben has gotten this one from Azmuth after he took down Diagon. This Omnitrix resembles a wrist watch, it's face plate is square and has a white and green color scheme. The faceplate is black with two green stripes forming an outline for the hourglass which is the intergalactic symbol for peace. When the faceplate is slid back, the core of the Omnitrix is revealed.

Gwen is wearing a white shirt underneath a dark blue sweater, black stockings under a black mini skirt, and long white socks that go up to her knees with black Mary Janes as her red hair down to her waist but is right now in a ponytail. And Kevin is wearing a black shirt and underneath it is a grey long sleeve shirt as the sleeves from it are slightly torn and blue wholesters. He has long black hair, a small tear below the left knee of his pants, a padlock necklace that is marked with an 11, black discolored marks around his eyes and black combat boots.

* * *

As Kevin holds the brain container, Ben tells Gwen, "Come on. You have to admit you love this stuff as much as I do, Gwen. I can't believe your really going to leave." Kevin then tells Ben jokingly while holding the brain container, "Yeah? Wouldn't you skip a few grades of high school if you had some brains?" He tosses it to Ben as he catches it as Ben tells Gwen, "There are plenty of colleges right here near Bellwood you could go to." But Gwen tells him, "Not quite the same as the Ivy League." Ben then looks down in sadness realizing his plan to keep Gwen here failed. Gwen smiles as she comforts her cousin by telling him, "I told you – we've spent years saving the world. I just want see some of what I've been saving."

Ben then tells Gwen with a smile, "I know. I get it." Ben then smirks as he tells Kevin, "Well, hurry back, Kevin! The troublesome two-oh is more than enough to take on whatever the universe dishes out." Kevin chuckles nervously, not sure how to tell Ben, until he tells him frowning, "Uh…I'm not coming back, Ben. I found a place near campus." Ben's eyes go wide, realizing what this means as he says sadly as he asks them, "So…This is goodbye?" Gwen smiles telling Ben, "Of course not! There are holidays and-and semester breaks. And besides, we're cousins. It's not like we're never gonna see each other again. Right?" Ben smiles as well telling her, "Right."

Kevin walks over to Ben telling him, "Later, man." Kevin holds his hands out for a hug, while Ben holds a hand out for a handshake. But they look at each other confused and they switch their hand positions, but their still confused, but they then smile as they bumped knuckles…That was until Kevin grabbed Ben in a headlock, as Kevin tells Ben, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Ben grins at that as Kevin lets go as Ben nods, letting him know he agreed. Kevin then tells Ben jokingly as he folds his arms around his chest, "Come to think of it, don't do anything you'd usually do, either." Ben frowns at that even though he knows Kevin tells him stuff like that all the time. But the frown disappears with a smile as Gwen hugs Ben as he hugs back as she tells him, "Take care of yourself, Doofus."

Ben frowns for a second, knowing he's still upset that their leaving, but he knows he can't stop them. So he smiles and tells Gwen with a smile, "You too, dweeb." And like that, Kevin and Gwen get in the car and they drive off, leaving Ben alone with brain container and the still tied-up Zombozo. Ben waves to his departing teammates as Zombozo tells Ben sarcastically, "Oh, what a touching moment. Too bad you would have never caught me all by your lonesome." Ben growls a little at that telling Zombozo, "Watch it, Zombozo. I don't need a team to get the job done. I'm a superhero! I can do this alone – no problem!" He glares at Zombozo but then he tells himself, "Why am I telling this to a crazy zombie clown? Time to put my money where my mouth is." Suddenly, Ben's stomach rumble as Ben then says, "But first, time to put food where my mouth is."

* * *

So Ben gets to his own car as he took the brain back to the brain bank and made sure Zombozo got to the proper authorities. Ben's car is a DX Mark 10, a black and green car. Ben then drives to Mr. Smoothie. But he decides to drive away from it as he tells himself with a frown, "Nah. It wouldn't be the same." So Ben keeps on driving until he reaches a small store, but not just any store. It's a small plumber store, called Max's Plumbing. Ben parked his car and went inside as he calls out for his Grandpa, "Grandpa Max?"

He decides to go into the bathroom behind the cash registers as he opens the doors and turns the light on, closes the door and faces the old fashioned toilet and pulls down the rope from the toilet. Thus, Ben goes in through the floor from a circular tube as Ben is taken down into the hidden underground level underneath the building. In other words, he is taken down into the Plumber Base. Aliens and humans alike are hard at work in this alien advanced high-tech base, as finally, Ben makes it the bottom and walks out as aliens are all working on computers and other things. Ben starts walking to the kitchen, knowing that's where Grandpa Max is. A staircase pops out from a ceiling as Ben slides down the railings then spins himself around landing off the railings as he gets to his Grandpa.

Grandpa Max is holding a big covered pot as he tells Ben, "Hey, just in time, Ben." Grandpa Max is an aging 66 year old man who is wearing a black shirt, covered by a red button up hawaiin shirt with a floral design, grey hair, white pants and grey and black shoes. So Ben asks him, "Whatcha making?" So Grandpa Max tells him, "Zandurian goulash." As the old man opened the pot, suddenly a creature growls within as it's tentacles pop out grabbing Ben as he gasps in fear. Grandpa Max brings out his gun and shoots the creature with an energy gun making it drop Ben as the old man tells Ben, "It's fresh." Ben shudders in disgust as he tells him, "Uh, no thanks. I'm…oddly not hungry. Think I'll go back out on patrol."

Ben starts to walk away as Grandpa Max tells him, making Ben stop, "Ben, before you go – I have something here that ought to cheer you up." Ben smiles telling his Grandpa, "Hey, I am cheerful. I'm psyched to go find some superhero action to get into." Grandpa Max smiles at his enthusiasm as Ben's stomach growls in hunger as Ben then says, "And something to eat that's not in the tentacle food group." Grandpa Max finds the papers as he walks over to Ben and tells him, "I just got the data in on your new-!" Suddenly, there's an explosion above the surface as alarms are blaring and the whole base shakes. Everyone gathers to the computers including Ben and Grandpa Max. The computer shows everyone a place that exploded as Ben tells Grandpa Max before he leaves, "I got this."

But Grandpa Max tries to tell Ben, "Wait for backup. I'll send for alpha team." But as Ben gets in the elevator, he tells him, "I don't need a team. I'm me!" The doors close taking Ben back to surface level to find the area he needs to go to. Ben gets to his car as he drives to the spot. Once he got there and got out, he looked over the mass destruction saying to himself, "Wow. Bye-bye, building." A whole entire building was destroyed, parts of the parking lot gone, and a massive crater. Ben hops into the crater sliding on the pipe and leaps to the bottom and falls flat on his face. He gets up and looks around asking himself, "What could have done this?" He walks around, but what he didn't know was that someone was watching him…

* * *

In a part of the building hidden from Ben's view stood a humanoid alien that has a black suit covering his upper body with a red stripe in the middle and grey pants, grey gloves, grey belt, black boots with grey soles, There are bones over his clothes making it armor as there's a rib-cage on his chest, a tail bone on his right shoulder, a skull of a horned animal on his left shoulder, ribs covering the back of his black suit and boots, and claws on his shoes. And this alien's face is turquoise with a large lower jaw, dark red sunken eyes, and gills under his cheeks. And beside him is a strange dinosaur and dog-like alien. It's dark blue, spike-like hair running down from its collar to the tip of its tail, sharp red eyes, black lines on its neck and legs and a red spiked collar.

The dog alien growls menacingly as the humanoid alien keeps a firm hold on the alien while glaring at Ben. The being grabs a hexagon machine on his chest that's red but with violet like teeth markings making it look like a weird looking Omnitrix, and places on his dog alien creature. He places the machine on the collar of the creature as it beeps and charges, making the dog growl as the man lets it go. Suddenly, the man whistles through his gills as suddenly the dog alien creature turns into some weird crab/rhino beetle-like alien! The creature crashes through the remains of the building as Ben looks up in shock. He runs away just as the alien landed. They turn to face each other as the alien roars as Ben says, "Whoa! Let me guess – you must be what took the building down. Nice work. Very thorough."

Ben then activates the Omnitrix, showing a green holographic screen showing alien faces, as he scrolls down it through the face plate searching for the perfect alien to fight. He selects the alien as the core pops out as Ben exclaims to the alien, "Get ready to meet a friend of mine I like to call 'Humungousaur'!" He slams it down but instead of turning into his chosen alien, he turned into a different one only known as Spidermonkey. This alien is a blue monkey alien but with four arms, three pairs of green eyes, two legs, three fingers on each hand, three toes on each foot, blue fur over a dark blue center, his hair flipped up – with the fur on his head is spiky with gray stripes – and a tail with two grey stripes near the tip. He also has two green sashes going across his chest which is where the Omnitrix symbol is.

Ben/Spidermonkey screeches as the bad alien charges for him with a roar as Spidermonkey roars as well, but he realizes he's not Humungousaur, looking at himself confused. But the alien charges into him having Ben/Spidermonkey hold onto the horn as the hero asks the Omnitrix, "Why do you hate me, new Omnitrix?" He screeches/laughs as he tries to push the horn off of him as he tells the creature, "If I was Humungousaur, you would be so sorry right now!" He manages to get his tail free and spits out webbing from it making it land by his mouth but Ben/Spidermonky still gets squished onto the crater wall. Ben/Spidermonkey still continues to try and push the horn off as he says sarcastically, "Well, that was a big help." He manages to get his head free as he looks up and gets an idea.

So he makes his tail point up and spits out webbing, as it lands on a part of the destroyed building as he tells himself, "The bigger they are, the harder they-!" As Ben/Spidermonkey pulled, the webbing came undone, making the rest of the building come down on them as Ben/Spidermonkey says to himself, "Aah! Oh, come on!" The building comes down onto them trapping them both in the debris. Ben/Spidermonkey gets out from under some debris as he says to himself screeching like a monkey, "I may be small, but I'm wiry!" With that, he tries to get away, however…The alien creature he was fighting appears from the debris with a roar as Ben/Spidermonkey gasps in shock but then says deadpanning, "Yeah. I should have expected that." He hoots and screeches trying to run away as the mysterious humanoid alien from before watches this all unfold.

Ben/Spidermonkey tries to run away as the alien creature tries to grab him. The alien hero tries to get away, causing twists and turns for the giant alien to ram into the crater walls. Ben/Spidermonkey runs up one of the crater walls and spits the webbing out from his tail, making it hit the eye of the creature as it roars in discomfort as Ben/Spidermonkey flips off the wall as the big alien flips over as well making it fall. But the creature still gets up and charges for the hero. The creature almost got to him, but the humanoid alien from before calls it back with his gill whistles as the big alien creature stops as Ben/Spidermonkey tries to defend himself. The big creature growls, softly, leaving Ben alone as it crawls back to its owner into the part of the darkened building, turning back to its original form.

Back with Ben/Spidermonkey, he notices he's not hurt as he then yells out, "Huh? Uh…yeah! And don't some back!" Back with the humanoid alien and his dog alien, the dog growls as the humanoid alien says to himself, "The stories are true – that Tennyson is worthy prey." And back with Ben/Spidermonkey, he turns back to normal, becoming Ben again. Who/what was that creature? Why did it attack Ben? And what other things will happen? Ben didn't know. But his next part of his adventure begins with the very weird looking toilet beside him…

* * *

And this is the end of The More Things Change Part 1 (1)! Again, please send positive reviews! They make me happy and make me want to write! Stay tuned for the second part sometime next week.


	4. CH 4 The More Things Change Part 1 (2)

Welcome to the continuation of Chapter 3's part 1 of the The More Things Change Part 1! WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I thank you for taking the time to read this story. I'm so sorry, I went through heck the last few days so I hope you forgive me! I hope you like this continuation, for it shows you Ruby and Rook, them meeting and helping Ben and finally some action! The next chapter will come out either Saturday or early next week. Enjoy!

But first, before you get reading, I have some things I want to say to you all. To the reviewers who reviewed, I'm sorry that you do not like this story, or the OC. But the thing is, I don't write fanfics to be perfect and/or successful. I just write for FUN. If you don't like the story, then so be it. I don't want to have a war or a battle with any of you. And I know that you don't want to either. I have other fanfics I wrote, and just like them, I wrote them for FUN. So I won't be deleting and/or changing this one, even if my OC is a Mary Sue. I actually like it that she is, it makes things more challenging and fun for me. I had to delete a story called Alien Fighter and Dragon Warrior earlier this year because it was too complicated. And I had to put DISCONTINUED on my TMNT Avatar story because not only was it getting too complicated as well, but I knew I couldn't have it up forever.

So I did this one, like I did all my other stories – for FUN. After all, third time's the charm, right? After all, I got plenty of time on my hands. To everyone, as long as your reading the story and/or favoriting it, I'm okay. To those who have left reviews that nearly broke my heart, if you don't like this story and Ruby, then don't read it anymore and don't review. I'm just thankful that you took time out of your schedules to read it, favoriting it and/or leaving a review or two. I'm not trying to be mean or mad at any of you, I'm just trying to let you all know how I feel about this as calmly as possible.

So I ask of you, no more hate and no more hassling me about Ruby being perfect and things that should be impossible. I created Ruby to have FUN with this story. So what if she's perfect? I don't care about that. And as for things that should be impossible, that's what fanfiction is all about: To make the impossible become real in fanfictions. Again, I just want to write for FUN only! So let's bury the hatchet and move on. By the time you've read this, I already deleted the profile from this story, so new readers can get a fresh start. However, if you still want to see the Ruby's profile, you will have to go to my profile to see it, as its still being worked on. That's all I have to say and I stand by it. So for those who love and read this story, please enjoy reading this chapter!

Oh! And for reviewer A.L? Yes, Ruby's Loboan form is somewhat close to Clawdeen and Howleen from Monster High, but is still more close to a Loboan.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 4: The More Things Change Part 1 (2)

Ben had just turned back to normal from being Spidermonkey as the crab/rhino beetle alien disappeared. As he turned back to normal, the lid of a very weird looking oblong toilet beside him opens up suddenly, revealing a little green alien with warts on his face, his eyes are on the sides of his face and wears a small black suit with silver armor. The alien pops up suddenly asking Ben, who got scared by his sudden appearance as he gasped, "Is it gone?" Ben after calming down asks the small alien, "Who are you?" The little alien known as Pakmar answers, "Pakmar. This is my place. Was my place. Pakmar's place!" Ben smiles telling the small alien, "Well, you're safe now." Unenthusiastically, Pakmar tells Ben, "My hero." The little alien grabs a broom and dustpan nearby and starts trying to clean despite his shop being gone.

Ben starts to feel bad for the little guy as he asks him, "Can I help?" Pakmar shakes his head telling him, "No. Just go away. I don't want any more trouble." But Ben looks around at the mess and tells Pakmar, "Yeah, I think it's a little too late for that." Pakmar had already gathered some trash as he tells Ben, "All I wanted was to run my Toilet Emporium in peace! Now it's in pieces." Ben then picks up the oblong toilet beside the one Pakmar came out of earlier and stands it up right. But as he did, he accidentally pressed something on it making a part of it spin around and the other squirting something out as Ben flinches away from the weird actions. Pakmar shrugs his shoulders telling Ben, "Eh, different aliens have different needs."

Ben backs away a little saying before he turns to Pakmar, "Don't even want to know. So, um, the thing that did this to your place – dissatisfied customer?" Pakmar then tells him, "Hardly. Some off-world lowlifes are shaking down us law-abiding businessmen. We pay them taydenite, they 'protect' us. Only thing is – we don't pay, they're the ones we need the protecting from!" Ben then asks Pakmar, wanting to know more, "Have they threatened anyone else?" Pakmar tells him, "Only every alien shop in Bellwood. Yeesh, kid! Where you been?!" As Pakmar goes back to cleaning, Ben then has a funny feeling where these lowlifes will strike next. So he gets out of the crater and contacts his Grandpa through his cellphone letting him know what happened as he then tells him, "If this is happening, I think I know where these guys will strike next. They might be heading to Mr. Baumann's shop. I'm heading there now!"

Grandpa Max then tries to tell him on the other line, "Hold on, Ben! I'm sending you your two new…" But Ben had already hung up as Grandpa Max says a bit annoyed, "…partners." Grandpa Max sighs, annoyed that his grandson doesn't listen before he acts. So he grabs his own Plumber badge and contacts one of two of Ben's future partners – aka Ruby. So he tells her through the badge, "Ruby, I need you and Rook for a moment, Ben's going to need help. He's on a mission where stores are being destroyed. I want you two at Mr. Bauman's shop. We believe his store will be next since he also serves aliens." The old man hears Ruby through the badge telling him, "Got it, Grandpa. We're on our way now." Grandpa Max smiles, hoping that Ben will like his new partners and hopes that they will be careful.

* * *

Back in the Plumber garage, Ruby and Rook had just gotten the message from Grandpa Max and they are both excited as Ruby asks Rook with a smirk, "Well, Rookie, looks like our first mission came sooner than expected. Are you ready to have some fun?" Rook nods with a smirk of his own saying, "I am ready, alright." Ruby then smirks as she says a teleportation spell while grabbing Rook by the shoulder, "Ianuae Magicae ad Mr. Baumann esse thesaurum." Suddenly, they both are teleported to Mr. Baumann's store as they land inside with no problems as Rook tells Ruby, "We made it. Now, all we have to do is wait for Ben Tennyson." Ruby nods telling him, "He should be here any minute. But I don't think it's a good idea for the both of us to introduce ourselves to him just yet." Rook looks at her confused and asks her, "Why do you say that, Ruby?"

So Ruby tells him as she puts her hood up, "Well, for one Rookie, Ben 10 has worked with his cousin and best friend for a long time. And now that their gone, he's pretty much on his own now. From what Grandpa Max told me, they just left this morning. We shouldn't introduce ourselves straight away when he gets here. We might accidentally cause him to not like us, especially since we'll be his new partners. So how about we disguise ourselves until we know for sure he needs help? We try and impress him a little in our disguised selves, then when he needs us, we'll fight and introduce ourselves as his new partners." Rook looks at her a little surprised but then he grins telling her, "That is a great idea, Ruby. You are a genius!" Ruby blushes telling him as her ears and tail pop out, "Thanks, Rook. When you've been with the Saturdays for as long as I have, you learn a lot of things."

Ruby then realizes that her ears and tail popped out as she covers her ears with her hood and hides her tail in her cloak. Rook smiles and laughs a little as he has gotten used to the loboan ears and tail popping out. He thinks it's cute for someone like Ruby. Ruby then tells him as she adjusts her hood, "I already have my disguise, but now you need one. And I think I know just the thing that should cover you up just fine." Inside the store, there is a clothing section as Ruby gives Rook a brown cloak and a red cap to put on as she tells him, "You can borrow these."

Rook puts them on as Ruby nods in agreement as Rook then tells her with a smile, "Thank you, Ruby. This will work perfectly. I am glad I have you to help me." Ruby grins and her tail starts wagging from underneath her cloak as she tells him, "You're welcome, Rookie." Suddenly, both Rook and Ruby's stomachs growls as they both look at each other as they blush and grin nervously as Rook says, "How about we get some food while we wait? I have not eaten anything since I got on the ship." Ruby nods telling him, "Good idea. I'll pay for the food since you're new here."

They start to walk over to the little area in Mr. Baumann's store that is a small food stand as Ruby Finally notices the weapon on Rook's left shoulder hidden under his cloak as she asks him, "Uh, Rook? What's that thing on your back?" Rook answers telling her with a grin, "This is my own weapon. It is called the Proto-Tool, a high tech multi-functional weapon that can turn into many things to help me fight. It can turn into a blaster, power sword and many other equipment. I have made special modifications to it, which is why it is an extremely complex device. Just wait until you see it in action."

Ruby smiles thinking of all the possibilities as her loboan ears stand up from underneath her hood and tail starts wagging underneath her cloak in excitement. When they got to the food stand, they sit down on their stools and ordered their food. Rook got a purple hamburger like thing, grape soda, and a box filled with compliments if he wanted them. Ruby decided to get an ice cream sundae. As soon as Rook and Ruby took a bite, the doors in the front opened to reveal Ben Tennyson as Rook and Ruby look on as Ruby smirks telling Rook, "Let the fun begin, Rookie." Rook smiles at this as he nods to her, excited to work with the legendary Ben Tennyson and his best friend Ruby.

* * *

Ben just got inside Mr. Baumann's store as he sees the said owner stacking Tiffin soda cans into a pyramid. As soon as he got to Mr. Baumann, Ben asks the store owner, "All right, Mr. Baumann. What do you know?" The store owner tells him, "I know lots of things." And just as Mr. Baumann stacks the last can at the very top, Ben asks him with a grin, "Anything about an alien protection racket in Bellwood?" So Mr. Baumann tells him no as Ben quirks an eyebrow asking him, "So they haven't been coming around here?" Mr. Baumann then tells Ben as he looks at his watch, "Who's been coming around where?" When the store owner frowned, Ben smirks realizing he was right as Mr. Baumann then tells Ben, "Okay, then. Nice seeing you again, Ben. Enjoy a free gloppenbeef sandwich – to go."

Mr. Baumann hands him a sandwich, trying to get him to leave by pushing him to the doors as Ben then asks him, "They're on their way right now, aren't they?" Mr. Baumann then tries to tell him, "Ben, please. It's a simple arrangement. I pay them, they leave. Which is what I want you to do right now." But Ben tries to persuade him saying, "But Mr. Bauman, I can stop them!" Mr. Baumann snaps, remembering all the times Ben destroyed parts of his store, as he tells Ben, "No! Every time you're in my shop, you ruin it!" Ben then asks him with a grin, still wanting to fight these bad guys, "You think I'm going to mess up your place more than they will?"

Mr. Baumann glares at him angrily as Ben still tries to persuade him, "Okay, one time! What if I just sit quietly at the counter and blend in, like any other customer? I promise, you won't even notice I'm here." With that, the store owner takes the sandwich away as he sighs and walks away telling Ben, "Please don't touch anything." Ben cheers with a grin quietly as he asks the Omnitrix before slamming it down, "Come on, baby. Any old alien will do for a disguise." He selects the alien and slams down the Omnitrix as he turns into an old alien favorite, Cannonbolt! Cannonbolt is a big pillbug like alien.

He's a hulking, broad-shouldered alien covered in natural, yellow armor plating on his back, shoulders, and the backs of his arms. He's mostly white, with black on his upper half, four claws on both hands, full human-like teeth, green eyes and the Omnitrix symbol is on his chest with a black stripe going down to his belly/chest underneath. When Cannonbolt is rolled up, he turns into a sphere, rolls up into a ball and launches himself to into targets and fight that way, thus earning him the name Cannonbolt.

Ben/Cannonbolt accidentally moves his hand, knocking down the Tiffin soda cans as customers gasp as Ben/Cannonbolt apologizes to everyone saying, "That was me. My bad." The aliens were looking at him a little shocked and they all wondered if he would attack as Ben/Cannonbolt smiles telling everyone, "Hey! How's it going, fellow aliens? Nice weather we're having here on Earth, huh?" He chuckles nervously, and suddenly, he could have sworn he heard someone trying to hold their laughter. Mr. Baumann then tells Ben/Cannonbolt, "Ben, you're not fooling anybody." The hero remembered why he was here as he nods and grabs some of the cans to take to Mr. Baumann as he starts walking with a smile as the store owner face palms.

As soon as he gets to the stools, he hops onto one, but he falls as the stool is bent as he lands on the floor hard causing a Cannonbolt-sized crater, thus dropping the cans as Mr. Baumann tells Ben angrily, "I knew it! I knew it!" Ben/Cannonbolt gets out of the crater and takes a look at it before making an assessment as he tells Mr. Baumann, "Ah, it'll buff right out." Again, he heard someone laughing, realizing it was a girl. He goes back to the stools as the alien hero decides to sit himself on two of them. They were able to hold him although they were slightly bent and the floor was starting to crumble. Ben/Cannonbolt tells Mr. Baumann, "There we go. Nothing to it." A slurping noise catches their attention as the both of them turn to the cloaked Rook Blonko and Ruby Bloodmoon.

Of course, Ben/Cannonbolt doesn't know who they are. Rook slurping his grape soda was the noise as he stopped for a moment as he burped. Ruby eats her ice cream, loving the sweet, cold, creamy taste as Ben/Cannonbolt looks at them for a moment, especially at the red hooded girl. He can tell she's a girl and sees the brown eyes and a smile underneath her hood but nothing else. Well, other than the fact that she's human and can't help but wonder what she was doing here or why since most humans don't really know about aliens, let alone interacted with them…other than the Plumbers that is.

* * *

But as he was thinking on this, he couldn't help but feel that the girl was very beautiful underneath her cloak. She suddenly looks at him with her warm brown eyes as he then blushes at her gaze and looks away embarrassed when his stomach grumbles. He notices the brown cloaked alien's sandwich as he asks him, "Hey, you gonna eat the rest of that?" Rook grabs his plate and slides it over to Ben/Cannonbolt as the alien hero smiles telling the brown cloaked alien, "Aw, thanks! Hey, could you pass the-!"

Rook and Ruby, understanding what he means, gives Ben/Cannonbolt all the condiments they have as the alien hero looks impressed as he tells them, "Whoa! Uh, thanks." Ruby grins and winks at him from underneath her hood as she tells the alien hero, "It's no problem, dude. Anything to help out a fellow alien." Ben/Cannonbolt looks at her confused and blushes again from the wink she gave him but brushes it off and goes to take a bite out of the sandwich as Rook and Ruby nod to each other with a smile, signaling their plan was working so far. Ben/Cannonbolt almost got his bite of food…however, fate always interrupts him. A voice rings out gravelly saying, "Pay up, Baumann." Then there is a squawk as another alien says, "You heard about Pakmar? Hmm?" Ben/Cannonbolt turns around a little as Mr. Baumann starts to look scared as the alien hero sees the bad guy aliens.

There are three in total, as the first one is a pink caterpillar-like alien wearing a life-support power armor called Bubble Helmet. His armor is mainly silver except the torso which is black with purple accents, purple gloves, three sharp claws on each of his hands and a prominent blue round helmet. The second one that talked is called Liam, chicken humanoid alien as he is very chicken-like, having feathers and a beak. He also has two bandoleers connecting together on his chest. His upper half is beige, the lower half is brown, has orange feet-like hands and sticking out of his head on the top as well as his bottom are red feathers. And the final bad guy, aka bad girl is called Fistina who appears to be a robotic alien as she is a pink alien with yellow eyes inside a red and black power armor and does not have a torso. Ruby looks up seeing the villains as she says to herself, "Wow, that red and black armor on that one alien is so cool! A little bulky for my tastes, but a little redesigning and customizing and it would be perfect!"

Rook laughs a little at that as Ruby looks down blushing as her ears press flat against her hair under her hood as she smiles that Rook is a little happy. So Ben/Cannonbolt decides to get some answers as he tells the three alien criminals, "I heard he has great deals on toilets." Mr. Baumann then tries to get on the bad alien's good sides telling them, "I heard it was an accident." So Bubble Helmet tells him, "Accidents happen all the time. Maybe to you." Bubble Helmet moves out of the way revealing a red bad-looking device held by Liam and Fistina. That's when Ben/Cannonbolt realized he found the bad guys as Mr. Baumann tells the alien criminals, "Take it easy, now. I don't want any trouble."

Mr. Baumann reaches to his shelf underneath the counter, but as he does, Liam clucks noticing bird seed nearby. And as he coos and turns his head, he tries to resist the siren call of bird seed. But he can't help it due to his bird-like nature and starts eating it away. Mr. Baumann finds his small box which contains taydenite, which is the rarest gem in the Milky Way Galaxy. He opens it and takes out one as he holds it out toward the alien criminals. But instead, Bubble Helmet uses his robotic arms to reach in and grab the entire box instead! Bubble Helmet then tells Mr. Baumann, "Pleasure doing business with you." And that was when Ben/Cannonbolt had enough. He gets up, thus squishing the counter as he calls to the leader, "Hey, Bubblehead!" Mr. Baumann then realizes that this means as he mutters to himself dejectedly, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

Bubble Helmet then tells Ben/Cannonbolt somewhat threateningly, "This doesn't concern you, Arburian Pelarota." Ben/Cannonbolt tells him, itching for a fight, "I think it does." Bubble Helmet closes the box and puts it in his suit as he tells the alien hero, "Aww. Looks like someone needs to be taught a lesson." Bubble Helmet grabs iron bars from his suit and morphs them out of his shell making them look like bo staffs as Ben/Cannonbolt tells Bubble Helmet tauntingly, "Oh! Let me guess, you're the one who's gonna teach it to me." Mr. Baumann, very worried and scared, tries to persuade Ben/Cannonbolt from destroying his store, "Not in my store! Please – I'll pay you not to do this, Ben!" The alien hero perks up saying with a smile before snapping out of it, "Really? I mean – your days of intimidating people are over, Bubble Brain!"

With that, Bubble Helmet spins his staffs causing lasers to come out as Mr. Baumann ducks as his store gets destroyed as he cries in despair, "No lasers! No lasers!" As this happens, Ruby gives Rook her ice cream sundae telling him, "Want a couple of bites?" Rook nods and tells her with a smile thus grabbing a spoon, "I would be delighted." But as he picked up his spoon, he raises it up, and a laser beam that was heading their way deflects off it and it hits Bubble Helmet causing him to drop his staffs. Ruby looks at this startled as she asks him with a smirk, "You deflected that for me, didn't you?" Rook tells her with his own smirk, "It was heading your way. I do not want to lose you on our first mission." Ruby shakes her head in amusement and then props her head down on her hand which is propped on the counter as she stares at him sweetly as her tail starts wagging lazily and her ears become positioned lopsided.

* * *

As this happens, Ben/Cannonbolt immediately rolls into a ball as he rolls into Bubble Helmet making him hit into a shelf as Mr. Baumann says to himself, "I knew this was going to happen the second he walked into my store." Alien customers run away, fleeing in terror as they scream. Mr. Baumann then calls out to all his customers, "Eh…thank you! Come again!" As everyone runs away, Fistina and Liam place the device down to the ground, but Fistina was hit by Ben/Cannonbolt and flung into a shelf as well, thus causing a domino effect with the other shelves. While all of this was going on, Rook was taking bites out of the ice cream as Ruby watches between the fight happening and Rook as her tail wags once more loving the action and spending time with Rook.

Ben/Cannonbolt unrolls and realized what he did as he grimaces as he turns around telling Mr. Baumann, "I'll clean it up later, Mr. Baumann." The store owner shakes his head sadly saying, "You always say that." Liam squawks like a chicken as he makes his bandoleers pop out and grind together, ready for a fight. Ben/Cannonbolt notices the bird seed that was knocked and has an idea as he picks up a handful and holds it out. Liam bawks and clucks as he still cannot resist the siren call of bird seed and walks over like a chicken. Just as he got to eat some, Ben/Cannonbolt smirks and traps Liam in his hold as he rolls onto a ball and rolls away. Ruby grins at that as she says, "I think I'm gonna like working with this guy if he can come up with good, crazy plans like that." Rook agrees as he watches a little before going back to the ice cream.

Ben/Cannonbolt rolls around a little as Fistina stands up and fires one of her fists as the hero but it is deflected thanks to shell and is heading towards Ruby and Rook as Ruby dodges it and Rook holds up the ice cream bowl to dodge it too. Ruby gets a little angry as she growls and yells to the alien hero as her loboan ears are pressed against her head and her tail stands up flared on end underneath her cloak and her eyes glow a little red, "Hey, watch it, would ya?!" Ben/Cannonbolt calls out to her, "Sorry!" He keeps on going and rolls/speeds up to a ramp and flies over Fistina as she stands up.

Just as Ben/Cannonbolt got to the middle, he unrolls, thus dropping Liam right on top of Fistina as both villains fall. Bubble Helmet has already set up the big bad red looking device as he tells his comrades, "Eh, okay, boys. Let's make like a tree and craterize this place!" He gets away as the machine beeps and charges at the very center is a green circle. The machine starts up as a red force field surrounds it as the sections of the circle start turning red.

Mr. Baumann is getting scared as he starts to call out to the hero, "Ben?" Ben/Cannonbolt rolls up into a ball and charges for the machine telling Mr. Baumann, "Not a problem." He charges for it two times, but he was deflected. On the third try, however, the Omnitrix powers down as he turns back to normal while he was rolling as he screams in slight terror as he flung onto the shield, hitting it. Ruby and Rook wince at this as they both say together without knowing it, "That had to hurt." They both look at each other confused, and then smile at each other at this. Ben slides down from the shield groaning as he asks the Omnitrix, getting annoyed with it, "Now? Really?" Ruby then asks Rook, "Is it just me, or does the Omnitrix not seem to like Ben very much?" Rook shrugs his shoulders as Bubble Helmet exclaims to Mr. Baumann, "Goodbye, Mr. Baumann."

Ben looks on in shock, realizing he lost by being on his own. Now he really wishes Gwen and Kevin came back. Mr. Baumann then asks Ben, "Isn't this where your friends show up and save the day?" Rook and Ruby look up at that as Rook looks at Ruby and asks her, "Now, my friend?" Ruby nods with a wolf smirk as her fangs come out, "Now!" And before anyone could blink, Rook and Ruby leap into action with great speed as Rook throws away the cloak and hat, and Ruby turns into her full loboan form and throws off her hood ready to fight as they both run towards the enemies.

* * *

Ben looks at the two in shock as his mouth hangs open as Mr. Baumann exclaims in fear then deadpans a bit near the end, "Ohh, not two more! (sighs) I was being sarcastic." But Mr. Baumann looks up seeing the red hooded cloak Ruby is wearing along with her loboan ears and tail as he signs in relief a little saying, "Oh, good. Ruby is one of them. She won't destroy anything. Don't know how I didn't notice her before though, that red cloak of hers' along with those ears and tail are always a dead giveaway for her."

Ben heard everything but he was still looking in shock towards the two that leapt into action, and even more shock when he saw Ruby. Even though he couldn't really see anything from under her hood, he thought for sure that she was human, not a loboan. In fact seeing her now made him think about his old loboan alien form, 'Benwolf'. As Ben is still shell-shocked while thinking this and watching the two newcomers go after the three criminals. Rook grabs his Proto-Tool from his shoulder and turns it into a custom bow as he then fires an energy arrow at Bubble Helmet, thus hitting its mark at his back, knocking him down as it electrocutes him a bit.

Fistina and Liam start running as Ruby growls in excitement as she grabs her enchanted wood bow and turns it into a kusarigama. She swings it around and throws it, hitting Liam right in the head, thus knocking him down. Ruby pulls the weapon back as it turns back into a bow and straps it back to her back. She and Rook then charge for Fistina as they leap onto her back, as they push her down with their feet as they backflip in the air, thus knocking Fistina down. The two teens are in the air as they turn themselves around and land on the floor with style and grace as Ruby smirks a wolf smirk.

By that time, Ben has stood up as he asks the two still shocked and confused, "Who are you two?" So Rook tells Ben, "Rook Blonko and this is my friend and partner, Ruby Bloodmoon. Magister Tennyson sent us." Ben asks in shock and confused, hearing the name, "Grandpa?" Suddenly, behind Rook and Ruby, Liam rose up and goes to attack them, but Ruby heard him coming as she growls a little, turns around and fires a red aura ball at him from her fist as Liam is knocked down unconscious. Rook nods to Ruby in thanks with a smile as Ruby answers back with a smile as well. Ruby then turns toward Ben and tells him smiling excitedly, "We're your new partners!" Ben is still in confused shock as he exclaims, "HUH?!"

* * *

Ben then says in shock and starts to get annoyed, "My new – I don't want new partners. No offense, but I'm Ben Tennyson." Ruby herself is starting to get a tad annoyed at Ben for that as he and his arrogant attitude begins to remind her a little bit of Zak. Rook then tells Ben, somehow sensing the discomfort between Ben and Ruby, "Yes, we know. It is an honor to be working with you, sir." Ruby nods, annoyance forgotten, as she is still in her loboan form. Ben tells them once again, annoyed, "Wielder of the Omnitrix? I've saved the world like a billion times." Ruby then scoffs telling Ben, "Don't you think we're aware of that? After all, it's required study at the Plumbers Academy."

Ben suddenly gets excited as he asks them, "Really?! There's a whole class about me?!" Rook tells him monotonously, "Chapter and a half." Ruby laughs at the expression on Ben's face as he finds out as the hero tells them, "Oh. Well, I was kind of looking forward to being on my own now. You both understand, right? I have things under control here." Ruby quirks an eyebrow at him and basically gives him the look that sarcastically says, 'Really?' Rook looks around the destruction in the shop as a ceiling light falls and crashes as the glass shatters as Rook then tells Ben, "Our mistake. We thought you did not. We waited to see if you needed our assistance." The three villains from behind Rook and Ruby start getting up and start running away as Ben tells them a little angry, "Well, don't stop now. Not while the Omnitrix is timed out!"

Rook starts to apologize to Ben, but Ruby puts a hand on his shoulder, telling him, "I got this, Rookie." Ruby turns around, facing the bad guys as they run away as she holds out a palm/paw as she says, "Consistunt, et procidamus!" Suddenly, the three villains are suddenly halted as they fall to the ground. Rook then activates his Proto-Tool which was strapped to his back as a part of it turns around as it fires a capsule which opens into a net and catches all three villains. They all try to escape as the two teens then turn to Ben as he looks a tiny bit shocked, but gets rid of it as he then acts like a professor telling them, "Not bad. But, you know, I bet anybody could do that if they had one of those…things and magic." Ruby shakes her head telling Ben, "My magic is a bit different from what you're used to with your cousin, dude."

Rook nods as he holds out his Proto-Tool, then tells Ben, "Ruby is correct on that. And this is called a Proto-Tool – the most versatile tech in the known universe. I have made some special modifications myself. It is -!" Ben then asks jokingly while deadpanning, "Does it have a mute button?" Rook questions that with, "Sir?" Ruby laughs a little at that as she tries to contain her laughter as Ben realizes it was Ruby laughing since he came in. Ruby then tells Ben as she's laughing, "He said that exact same stuff to me before you got here. I think Rook here rehearsed that before he came to this planet."

Ben laughs at this as Rook looks confused of the two laughing teens. Suddenly, the Omnitrix beeps as it's recharged as Ben holds his wrist up saying as he then tells the two teens, "Yes! Thanks for the help, you two, but I got this now." Ben slams down the Omnitrix and in a green flash, he turns into a new alien. This new alien looks similar to that of a gorilla made out of building blocks. The main colors on him are red, blue and yellow, with black lines all over his body, and the Omnitrix symbol is on his chest.

Ruby looks on in awe as she grins as Ben/New Alien asks himself, "Whoa! Who's this guy?" Ruby then tells him excitedly as her tail wags, "Dude! You're like a Lego Blocks alien!" Ben/New Alien grins as he then thinks of the perfect name for this alien: Bloxx! He then goes to the covered machine and tries to punch at it, but his hands are destroyed. He pulls his hands back and grimaces saying, "I did not see that coming." However, his hands are reformed back to normal! He looks shocked as Liam gets his attention as the chicken alien bawks and uses his claws to get him and his comrades free. Ben/Bloxx quickly tells his two partners, "Hey, Rook, Ruby! Tag out!" Rook looks confused as Ruby tells Rook with a sigh, "It means switch places, Rook!"

Rook's face then dawns in understanding as Ben/Bloxx tells them, "Get over here and disable the force field for me. I'll deal with those guys." Rook and Ruby get to the machine as they start looking it over while Ben/Bloxx says, "All right. Let's see what this baby can do." The alien hero then forms a shield/cage around the villains as they cut free from the rope as they cannot escape. Bubble Helmet grabs his energy gun and fires it at a part of Ben/Bloxx, but it forms his face as he asks Rook and Ruby, "How's it coming?"

With Rook and Ruby, Ruby asks Rook, "Well? Do you think we can disable it in time?" Rook shakes his head telling her, "Unfortunately, no. We need to do something and fast." Rook and Ruby are busy thinking of what to do as Ben/Bloxx asks the two getting worried, "What are you two waiting for? Use your techno-thing and magic!" Rook corrects him saying, "Proto-Tool." Then Ruby tells the alien hero, "Magic won't work on this with the shield up." Bubble Helmet's gun then shoots Ben/Bloxx's face, destroying it, although it reforms as the alien hero tells them a bit annoyed, "Whatever." As the villain shoots more, Ruby then tells Rook, "We have to get this thing away from living beings." Rook then has an idea as he tells her, "There is an abandoned building beside this store. We can put it there if there is no one there."

Ruby nods telling him, "Good idea! Let's do this thing, Rookie." Rook then stands up, grabbing his Proto-Tool and prepares to aim at the wall as Mr. Baumann asks him getting afraid, "No! What are you doing?!" Rook attaches a small missile to the front of his Proto-Tool, aims and fires at the wall destroying a big part of it showing the outside! Mr. Baumann looks on in shock as he puts his head down as Ruby tells the store owner, "Sorry, Mr. Baumann!" Ruby then tells Ben/Bloxx, "The shield fluctuation uses a B'karyix algorithm. We can't break the code in time." Rook then tells Ben/Bloxx, "We need to detonate it away from the populace!" Ben/Bloxx then asks them, "Speak English!"

Rook then tells Ben/Bloxx, "Help us move it outside!" Ben/Bloxx turns back to his true form and gets to Rook and Ruby as he goes to grabs the covered device as he and his two partners runs outside through the hole. But before Ben/Bloxx could throw it away, Rook stops him. Rook then turns his Proto-Tool into a scanner and uses it to scan the building nearby. The device hums as Ben/Bloxx asks them getting agitated and worried, "Take your time. I'm joking, by the way. Hurry up!" Ruby then uses her loboan senses to sniff out any life nearby along with sensing any auras in the building as Rook tells Ben/Bloxx, "We have to scan for the presence of sentient life. We cannot let anyone be destroyed or hurt." By that time, they both finished as Rook tells the alien hero, "All clear." Ruby nods saying, "Yeah, no life anywhere in that building, not even small animals, so we're good."

* * *

With that, the alien hero stretches out his arms, ready to throw the device onto the building. But just as he does, the same gun from before, shot at the arms making them break and crumble as the machine falls. All three villains fire their energy guns as Rook makes his Proto-Tool into a power sword deflecting blasts, while Ruby makes her enchanted bow into a shield, deflecting blasts as well as they hit the villains. Ben/Bloxx stretches to catch the falling machine as he says, "I got it!" But the machine crumbles through the hands as Ben/Bloxx says disappointedly, "I don't got it." The machine falls as Ben/Bloxx goes down as the machine hits the ground and makes a big flash, making them realize it's going to blow! The alien hero pushes them away as Ben/Bloxx makes himself into a catapult as he puts the machine onto it.

He aims and fires it into the building as it crashes through a window as all three heroes start running away. Rook does the countdown, "Three, two…" And just like that, the building explodes as Ben/Bloxx makes a shield to protect them as Ruby quickly yells with her paws/hands up, "Protego!" A red aura force field appears above the Ben/Bloxx and protects all three of them from the blast. The building that got destroyed is now a giant crater. Once the destruction was finished, the force field disintegrates as Ben/Bloxx reassembles himself as he turns back to normal as the Omnitrix times out. Ben then asks the two, "Are you two okay?" Rook tells Ben as he mentions to his and Ruby's armor, "Proto-Tech armor and Ruby's magic. Strong and durable." Ruby laughs a little as she tells Ben with a smile, "But it was nice of you to try to save us though. So thanks, partner. Our first mission and we managed to save the day. Not bad, huh?"

Ben gets a little annoyed telling them, "Don't mention it." Rook looks at Ben confused as he asks him, "But we just did." Ben is still annoyed as he tells them, "And we're not partners! I work alone now." Rook looks a little ashamed as he tells Ben, "Yes, sir." Ruby starts to get angry a little bit at what Ben said that caused Rook to be ashamed as Ben then tells Rook, "And call me 'Ben', dude. Ruby here does." Rook perks up a little telling him, "Okay, Ben dude." Ruby notices the tension between her and the boys as she singsongs, "Awkward." Then all three notice the villains running away into the crater as all three give chase. They slide down the crater walls and into the hole at the bottom as they leap from boulder to boulder. They still chase the three villains as Ruby runs in time with Ben as the half-loboan realizes where they are.

Both teens stop at the end of the tunnel as Ben says in shock, "No way!" Down below is a giant city with many buildings as Ruby then opens her arms gesturing to the underground city as she tells Ben, "Ben Tennyson, welcome to Bellwood's secret underground city where aliens from all over the galaxy gather. In other words, welcome to Undertown, Partner!" Rook catches up to them as he passes them and continues running toward the bad guys down the ramp. Ben has no time to question Ruby about Undertown as the both of them follow Rook as they go to take down the bad guys.

Back on the surface, the same alien with the skull outfit and his dog alien from before, are at the top of the crater as the dog growls as the humanoid alien tells his dog, "Show no mercy." The dog charges into the crater, snarling, as it heads toward its prey…Will Ben, Rook and Ruby find their bad guys? Will Ben get along with his new partners? Will Ben learn about what Ruby really is and clear up the confusion about whether or not she's human or loboan? And will they find out who's really behind all the alien shop destructions? Keep on reading to find out.

* * *

And that is the end of this chapter! Whew! This was fun to do. Here are the translations to the Latin spells you have seen in this chapter:

'Ianuae Magicae ad Mr. Baumann esse thesaurum,' it means 'Teleport to Mr. Baumann's store.'

'Consistunt, et procidamus,' means 'halt and fall down.'

'Protego' means 'protect.'

Stay tuned sometime later this week or sometime next week to find out what happens next! It all depends on my schedule and my partner's. Have a good day!


	5. CH 5 The More Things Change Part 2 (1)

Welcome to a fun new chapter for you all to like, love and enjoy! I almost thought I wouldn't be able to get this chapter up but I did! I got sick on Monday and barely had the strength to write, but I did it! I have recently got reviews that made me slightly better. Also, the reason I do stories like this starting and during the show, is because I always had thoughts of what would happen if I had my own character. To me, that kind of stuff is fun to do. If I didn't and made something up on the spot, like not during Omniverse, it would be too much thinking.

But I am thinking of adding intermissions to this story along with its sequels. Like Rook and Ruby's times during Plumber Academy and maybe even holiday things whether their late or not. That's what I have to say on the matter. This new chapter includes Ben, Rook and Ruby, go to capture the bad guys and Ben and Ruby start bonding as Ben tries to find out more about Ruby. WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I hope that you like this chapter! Have fun reading and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa! Whatever holiday you celebrate, have a great time!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 5: The More Things Change Part 2 (1)

All three heroes run in to Undertown to catch the bad guys. Said bad guys were leaping from building to building to get away. Liam accidentally falls to the ground near a round pudgy yellow alien who was trying to sculpt a rock sculpture of himself flying. Liam shook himself off and ran as the little alien starts to get angry. Then Bubble Helmet appears crashing through a wall as the rock structure suddenly crumbles as the little alien gets angry. Rook, Ruby and Ben are running side by side as Ben tells them, "There's a whole city of aliens down here!" So Rook tells Ben, "You sound surprised, Ben Dude." So Ben stretches out his shock and wonder telling him, "A whole secret city!" So Ruby tells Ben, "Yeah, and not only is it secret, but it's also an awesome place, dude! I'll show you around after we capture them." Ben grins at Ruby for that, as he looks her. He is still confused about her, but he has a feeling he'll find out eventually.

Rook then tells Ruby and Ben, "Come, partners. We must catch those lowlifes who have wrecked Bauman's store." Ruby runs with Rook as she and him go in one direction as Ben tells Rook, "Yeah, about that whole 'partner' thing? Don't get your hopes up!" Ruby rolls her eyes as the three villains continue leaping onto building and so do Rook and Ruby as Ben continues to run. Rook and Ruby reach an alley as they see Fistina break through a door to get away. Both teens go through the door as well as Fistina continues running, hitting a pink tentacle-like alien, knocking them down. Rook and Ruby follow Fistina as they ran past the fallen alien as Ruby yells to the alien, "Sorry!"

Ben is chasing Liam and Bubble Helmet as runs along buildings. Liam then leaps away from the buildings and to the ground. He lands and Ben follows him through that to catch him. Back with Ruby and Rook, they are still following Fistina, and suddenly in a small room, she leaps through a window, breaking it as she falls. She then launches one of her fists like a grappling hook to a building and starts swinging. She lands on the building with a smirk, but Rook and Ruby don't give up. The both of them leap through separate windows, breaking them, as Rook uses his Proto-Tool and makes it into a grappler as it latches to a wall of a nearby building beside Fistina. Rook grabs Ruby around her waist and pulls her close to him as they both swing toward Fistina. Fistina leaps away as they got close as both Ruby and Rook follow her as Rook gets his weapon back to normal.

As they still continue to follow her, Ruby was blushing from what Rook did as her tail wags a little. Bubble Helmet, Liam and Fistina managed to get away and start running into a subway tunnel to get away. But luckily, Ben was able to get to the tunnel before Rook and Ruby as he tells himself before slamming down the Omnitrix, "XLR8 can catch those scuzzbuckets!" He slams it down, but instead of XLR8, he gets an alien known as NRG. This alien is humanoid made of pure red radioactive energy that is inside a Containment Suit. The suit is a heavy, oven-like suit, which has a handle on the head and bolted shoulders, hands and chest. The red figure of NRG wears two straps, a belt, two wristbands on both arms, and two knee braces on both legs. While in armor, the Omnitrix symbol is on the chest seal of the armor, and while he's the red figure, it is on his belt.

Ben/NRG, in his thick German accent talks to himself and the watch as he stopped running, realising what happened, "Ugh! NRG? Really?!" The alien hero spits through the slots as the red energy goop falls onto a piece of the railroad, melting it. Rook and Ruby finally caught up with him as Rook asks Ben, "What happened?" Ben/NRG tells him and Ruby, "Uh…new Omnitrix. I'm still learning the controls." Ruby laughs a little at that telling Ben/NRG, "Either that, or the watch just hates you. Did you ever think of that?"

Ben/NRG growls a little at that, as Rook then tells them holding out his Proto-Tool, "Allow me for this one." He aims for Liam with his weapon and fires it as the blast hits Liam as the chicken villain falls to the ground in the middle of the train tracks. The blast itself, manages to start electrocuting the chicken villain as he clucks in pain. There is a gray metal sphere-like thing above him which came from the blast, causing the mild electrocution.

Ruby claps in excitement like a little kid as she barks a little as Ben/NRG tells Rook excitedly one moment, but then changes his mind, "Nice going, Rook! Eh…for a newbie, I mean." Rook had smiled at the first part but then frowns and so does Ruby as she stopped barking and clapping. Instead, she growls slightly in anger at that, but chooses not to say anything. All three of them crowd around Liam to ask him questions, as Ben/NRG asks Liam, "Now talk! Who is behind these alien shakedowns?" Liam looks up, not wanting to answer but he sees something in the distance heading for them as he squawks out, "B-b-b-behind you!" Ruby looks confused as Rook tells everyone, "Even I would not fall for that, and this is my first day on Earth." Ruby hears something behind her as she tells everyone, "That's true. Rook did just get here today, but I think Chicken Little is right!"

* * *

A light shines from behind them as all three heroes turn around seeing that Liam and Ruby were right! The light is coming from a high-tech tram as all three heroes and villain look scared as Ben/NRG quickly tells his two new partners, "Rook, Ruby, quick!" All three heroes quickly grab Liam as Rook grabs the gray metal sphere-thing as they then toss Liam out of the tram's way. Just as the tram was heading their way, Rook quickly grabs Ruby and puts her in front of him and Rook hops onto Ben/NRG as the shape-shifting alien hero latches onto the front of the tram as said vehicle rams into them. As this happens, Ruby blushes really bad and her heart is pounding like crazy, especially at the position they're in with her being pressed between Ben/NRG's back and Rook's chest. The tram keeps on going as Ben/NRG places his feet on the ground trying to make the vehicle stop as they skid. The being that is driving it gasps and tells them angrily, "Hey! You took out my brakes!"

Ben/NRG angrily tells the driver, "When you ran us over!" The tram keeps on going until it skids/stops somewhere in Undertown as all three heroes are flung back. Rook and Ruby skid to a stop thanks to their feet while Ben/NRG falls on his back. The tour driver known as Toby Monitor has large yellow eyes with black pupils outlined with black eyes, dark magenta, wrinkled skin, blue, egg-shaped armor, and light blue metallic extremities with blue claws.

Ruby and Rook stands up as Toby Monitor talks through the P.A. system inside the tram, "Undertown Market, connect to the sewer line, brownfield tunnels, and the ferry to sunken tanks." Out of the back of the tram, the doors open as the aliens come walking out angrily. Ruby looks nervous as she awkwardly smiles and waves at Toby Monitor as she tells him, "Sorry about that, Toby!" Toby cracks a grin, seeing Ruby, "Hey, long time no see, Ruby! Haven't seen you down here in a week. Finally started your job as a Plumber huh? How's your mom doin'?"

Ruby grins telling him, "She's doing fine, thanks for asking Toby. And yeah, I finally started my job as a Plumber, and don't worry, I promise you that the Plumbers will pay for the damages." Toby nods as he then says into the P.A., "Next stop – Gaseous Gardens." He starts up the tram and drives off as smoke lets out causing everyone to cough as Rook calls out to the alien, "Hey! You don't have brakes!" Ben/NRG turns back to normal Ben as he tells Rook, "It'll come to him."

Ruby whines with the dirty smoke all over her as she then shakes herself off trying to get rid of the smoke smudges. Once she does so, she sighs in relief saying, "Ah, much better! Better to stay clean then dirty…sometimes." All three heroes turn around seeing the town as Ben watches all of this in awe as he tells his partners, "I can't believe this place!" Ruby nods with a grin telling Ben, "I couldn't believe it either when I first saw this place too. You're gonna love all the cool things this place has to offer."

Ben then asks Ruby, "Well then, what are we waiting for? Mind showing me around, Ruby?" Ruby grins a wolf grin as her ears stand up straight and her tail wags excitedly as she tells him, "I'd be delighted!" Ben and Ruby start running off with grins as Rook looks at what just happened confused, as he looks on at them and begins to follow them. He starts to feel something in his chest that he has never felt before, something that felt like a somewhat painful tightness in his chest from just watching Ruby go off with Ben.

* * *

Back in the subway tunnel the heroes were at earlier, the same humanoid alien with the skull like outfit hold a bone like flashlight, searching for something as he asks to nothing, "Where are you, friend?" He then uses his gills, whistling for his dog alien, who appeared shortly after. The dog stands by his side as it growls softly as the humanoid pats it on the head telling it, "There's a boy." Something then catches their attention as the humanoid alien walks over and it's the same red energy that Ben/NRG spit out earlier. He then brings out a knife and stabs at the stuff and holds it up as he says, "Rusted with disuse, half-melted." He then notices the destroyed track as he turns his head as his dog growls and starts to sniff them out, as he tells his dog, "Hunt them up!"

The dog snarls as it turns into a new alien creature that is mostly black, white and red. It has a black head which dons a white patch on each side of the head. It has four red eyes, two on each side. It also has sharp teeth, and protruding gums in the lower jaw, a row of red spikes running down on the back along with a black stripe, four legs and black feet, each ending in three red claws, and a red-marked tail tip. And the same collar with the weird device is still around the neck. Thus this alien, is more like a giant lizard. It runs off, going to catch its prey.

* * *

Ben and Ruby walk past a glass ball like-beaker thing, like people use for in a lab as he looks around in awe, while Ruby shows him around. Rook follows, making sure nothing bad happens to Ruby and Ben. Rook then tells Ben, "I know I am the new guy, Ben Dude-!" Ben interrupts his as he grabs big punch bowl and puts it on his head like a helmet as he slowly tells Rook annoyed, "Dude, call…me…Ben." Rook then asks him slowly yet monotonously, "Ben. Shouldn't…we…go…after…those…lowlifes?" Ruby laughs at that as she tells him, "Rook, humans don't speak that way unless they just want to get their points across. Like Ben just being called Ben, okay?" Rook nods telling her, "As you say so, my dear friend." Ben looks at the two confused as he then asks Ruby, "Since you seem to know so much about this place Ruby, how long do you suppose there's been an Undertown?"

Ruby then tells him, "Since my parents are friends with the Plumbers, your Grandpa Max told us that during a battle that you had when you were a kid, a large section of Bellwood was destroyed, an alien labor force was secretly brought in to rebuild the city faster than humans could do alone. During the construction, the alien laborers and their families built what started out as a very small camp in the caves beneath Bellwood. Over the years, it grew until it was the size of a city. All the aliens here just want to make an honest living and live good lives."

Ben looks at Ruby shocked and confused of what she just said as Ruby tells him as her ears go down, "What? Rook and I know everything that happens with the Plumbers and you." Rook nods in agreement as he tries to tell Ben something, but Ben interrupts asking him, "I know – you're about to say something official and plumbery." Ruby snickers at that as Rook tries to tell him, "Yes." Ben leaves with Ruby and Rook following as Rook tries to talk to Ben. They stop near a 'Tentacle-on-a-Stick' food stand as a strange pink bunny-like alien is selling them as the alien yells, "Tentacles on a stick. So fresh, they grab you!"

Ben looks at the tentacles, between disgust and hunger as he says, "I'm finally that hungry. Give me one of those." The alien asks Ben, "With or without suckers?" So Ben answers, "With." Ruby also tells the alien, "I'd like two without please." Ben looks at her shocked as suddenly, Rook flashes out his Plumber badge like a cop, asking him, "Excuse me. We are Plumbers working a case. Did you happen to see a group of bipedal lowlifes run through here, one cyanic?" The alien gets worried and scared as he looks at Rook's badge and notices that Ruby has one too on her cloak, as he tells Rook, "What? No. I don't know nothin'. I don't see nothin'." The alien then closes up shop as said alien goes to the driving part of his shop and starts putting some kind of headgear on him as Ben gets angry asking him, "Hey, what about our tentacles?!" So the alien tells them, "Never heard of it."

Ben tells him, "Dude, you were gonna sell us-!" The alien interrupts Ben telling him, "I don't sell nothin'. I ain't even here, Redspot Plumbers." The alien drives away with his stand as Ben gets angry and annoyed as he tells Rook and Ruby, "Aw, man! Why'd you both have to go and show your badges? Especially with yours on your outfit, Ruby?" So Ruby tells him, "My badge is just a clasp for my cloak. It holds it together, plus it also looks cool and stylish with it on. Thus it's a fashion choice, dude; not a law enforcer or business choice."

Then Rook tells Ben feeling ashamed, "And I was interrogating a witness. But I may have misjudged." Ruby pats Rook's shoulder telling him, "Don't blame yourself, Rookie. You're allowed to make mistakes, especially when it's just your first day of being a Plumber. It's how you learn and gain experience to get better." Rook smiles and nods at her, thankful for her comfort. Ben looks at the two confused, especially when Ruby called Rook, 'Rookie.' He found the name to be funny and ironic. He also couldn't help but think in some way, the two of them were like Kevin and Gwen.

So then Ben tells Rook telling him with a sigh, "Yeah, don't stress. I didn't mean to get angry. I'm the one who skipped breakfast." Ruby's jaw drops in shock as she tells him with a squeak in her voice, "WHAT?! You skipped BREAKFAST?! Dude, that's the most important meal of the day! No wonder you're grumpy! That's it, I'm getting some nourishment in you, stat!" Ruby holds out both hands as she says a spell, "Pomum crustae et candied bubulae jerky duos." A couple pieces of beef jerky and a small container with candied apple slices in it appear in her hands as Ben looks shocked.

Ruby then shows them to Ben telling him, "I don't know if you'll like these, but it's better to have something than nothing to snack on. These should tide you over until we get some real food in you, okay with you?" Ben suddenly smiles at Ruby as he takes the jerky and apple slice container and eagerly takes a bite out of one of the jerky pieces as he tells her, "Thanks! Mmm, this is actually pretty good! You know, I might start liking having you around after all." Ruby grins as Ben eats some more jerky and tries some of the apple slices as all three get moving.

Rook follows as Ben asks him while still eating, "So, Rook? You and Ruby here said something about this being your first day on Earth?" Rook nods telling him, "Oh yes, I only arrived here just this morning. it is my first time away from home, besides going to Plumber Academy. When I first became a Plumber, I was assigned to my home planet, Revonnah. But the most exciting thing to do there is keep rodents out of the grain silos." Ben asks him confused, "You learned to fight like that protecting alien wheat?"

Rook nods telling him, as he looks to Ruby, "On Revonnah, the rodents run fairly large. But I decided not to go. Instead, I wanted to work alongside with my dearest friend, Ruby. Especially when we found out we would be your new partners." Ruby blushes a little at that as Ben nods understanding, since he always had Gwen and Kevin helping him. What they all didn't know was that a certain Buglizard creature had just sniffed them out and is heading straight for them…

* * *

Back with Ruby, Rook and Ben, Ben, having finished the snack Ruby had provided him with, is still looking around the place in awe as Ruby tries to show him around. Ruby is still in her loboan form, as Ben still continues to wonder about that as Rook tells Ben, "I really do think we should continue looking for the lowlifes." Ruby agrees nodding her head as she says, "I agree. We need to take them down before they hurt anyone else." Ben shrugs his shoulders as he looks at purple turkey-like food, telling them, "Relax. Pretty soon, the big bad will say…" Ben then says in a deep voice, "Ben Tennyson? Here to ruin my plan?" Then the alien hero says in his normal voice, "And then your lowlifes will come looking for us." Ruby scoffs telling Ben, "I hear that. We'll find them eventually, we just have to stay cool and aloof." Ben smiles telling Rook, "See? She gets it."

But there is no answer from Rook as they look around for him, but they see Rook talking to…a balloon? The green and purple balloon is being held by a kid alien that looks like a mini Stinkfly, another one of Ben's aliens. Ruby facepalms with an aggravated sigh telling Ben, "Typical Rookie. All work, no play. My friend seriously needs to chill out and enjoy life a little more every once in awhile." Ben scoffs telling her, "You can say that again. Was he always like this when you became friends with him?" Ruby laughs a little telling him, "Big time. He's always serious and somewhat naive, but he's also a really good guy and a bit of a gentleman too and I like him like that. Believe it or not, Rook was actually one of the very first people I met when I first got on the ship to the Plumbers' Academy.

I was really nervous at the time and was too scared to take a seat anywhere what with everyone watching me and talking about me the moment I first entered the ship. And then the next thing I know, Rook was standing right in front of me asking if I was alright, and ever since then, he and I, along with another friend of ours named Scout, became really close friends and not to mention a pretty great team too. I know Rook is a bit new at being a Plumber and can be kinda slow with most things when it comes to earth customs, but he truly is one of the greatest friends I could ever ask for and I stand by that completely. It's always good to have friends that will always stand beside you, freakish flaws and all."

Ben smiles and laughs a little telling her, "I hear that. I'm surprised how Kevin and Gwen managed to be around me for so long. And from the way I hear it, you must be pretty close to Rook to think that highly of him. In fact if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you like him, as in like-like him." Ruby whimpers/squeaks in shock as she stops walking as Ben looks at her and sees a blush starting to appear on her face as he starts to smirk and tells her, "You do like him, don't you?" Ruby shakes her head along with her arms in front of her telling Ben with her face all red, "No! No, no, no, no, no! It's not like that at all! He and I are just friends, nothing more and nothing less!" Ben recognizes the nervousness as something Gwen did when Ben asked her about her and Kevin back before they became a real couple.

So he decides to not tease her and hurt her feelings as he holds up his hands somewhat defensively and tells her, "Okay okay, whatever you say. I just thought that you two were a bit more than that. That's all. I was just asking." Ruby nods telling him with a very small smile and a still red face, "Thank you for understanding. And there really is nothing going on between me and Rook other then our friendship. Although when he does find that special someone for him, I know without a doubt that he'll make her very happy and the luckiest girl alive..." Ben noticed the change in Ruby's voice when she said that and couldn't help but notice it sounded disappointed and yet hopeful, and was about to ask if she was okay.

But she then smiles at him and say, "So anyway, can we get back to talking like old friends? I like talking to you." Ben can see that she's trying to change the subject and decides to just go along with it as he nods telling her, "Sure. After all, you're actually much easier to talk to." They both laugh at that as Ben can tell that a new friendship is beginning between him and Ruby as he then asks her, "By the way, there's something I've been wanting to ask you since I met you. Just what exactly are you? Back at Mr. Baumann's, I saw that you were human, even from underneath that hood. Then you whip it off and you're suddenly an alien similar to that of my alien werewolf form, Benwolf."

Ruby looks at him shocked, not knowing he had a loboan form and from him figuring it out. Ruby smirks telling him, "That's because I'm half-loboan. Loboan is the alien term for the alien version of werewolves. My mom is a human sorceress while my dad is a loboan, So I can turn between my loboan and human forms at will." And just like magic, the fur disappears along with the loboan tail and ears as her human form is revealed. Ruby pulls down the hood, thus revealing her human form. Ben blinks his eyes in shock and blushes as he looks at the beautiful teenage girl in front of him as he tells her, "Okay, I didn't expect you to be…well…hot."

Ruby laughs telling him, "Thanks for the compliment. It's nice to know that even a normal person can like me. Well, as normal as you can be." Ben laughs telling her, "Thanks. So, what's with the hood anyway, Red Riding Hood?" Ruby smirks telling him, "How about I tell you the whole story, I promise you won't be bored with, Benji?" Ben laughs at the nickname as both start talking as Ben finds out more about Ruby and what she is. As this happens, even though Rook was busy interrogating someone, he looked on at them from the corner of his eye and as he's watching them talking and laughing, he cannot help but feel the tightening feeling in his chest again. What was happening with him?

Ben and Ruby continued walking and talking as they passed by various vendors selling different things and customers, including citizens that looked like XLR8, another one of Ben's aliens. One that looked like a kid tells her mom, "Mommy! I got a bloody nose!" She holds up a brown bag showing something was inside and leaking as her mother tells her somewhat annoyed, "Well, did you expect me to cook it for you here?" Ben shudders as he tells Ruby, "Man, am I glad you gave me that stuff when you did Rubes. For a moment, I thought that would have made me hungry." Ruby laughs telling him, "You're very welcome. Like I said, anything to help." Suddenly, an alien calls out, "Get your Protozoan Smoothies!" Ben then exclaims in excitement and relief, "Smoothies?!" Ben starts to run to find the smoothie stand, but Ruby starts to follow him as she tries to tell him, "Uh, Ben? I don't think you'll want those!"

Ben and Ruby walk over to the Smoothie stand seeing a light blue/green slug alien selling Protozoan Smoothies as the alien calls out once more, "Get your Protozoan Smoothies!" Ben and Ruby made it, but another alien already got there, paying the vendor for one of the Smoothies. So the vendor hacks up and throws up a big purple Protozoan like thing and puts a straw in it and gives it to the paying alien. Throughout that whole thing, Ben got grossed out at the sight of it as Ruby tells him, "I tried to tell you." Ben shudders, but he still asks the vendor, "Is that safe to eat? For me, I mean?" The vendor gets angry trying to tell Ben, "Hey, listen, ape-!" Suddenly, a growl catches their attention as they both see Ruby snarling with her teeth into fangs as she tells Ben, "Something's here."

* * *

Sounds of whirring appear through the market as Rook looks to what's going on as he was interrogating. Alien citizens run away as the sight of a certain Buglizard creature has appeared once more, as it has found its prey. The alien roars and starts running towards Ben and Ruby as she asks shocked, "What in the name of the moon is that creature?!" Ben shakes his head telling her, "I wish I knew!" Rook quickly grabs the alien child he was interrogating and runs into an alley so that the child would remain safe. The alien Buglizard hops from stand to stand as aliens watch in shock, as the Buglizard hops onto the ground in front of Ben and Ruby. Both teenagers back up into a stand in slight fear as the Buglizard opens its jaws as Ben asks jokingly in fear, "Do I know you?" Ben and Ruby quickly jump out of the way in different directions as the creature charges for them, missing them.

Ruby quickly turns to her Loboan form as Ben tells the Buglizard creature, "You're not the only big bruiser in Undertown, Ugly. It's Hero Time!" Ben quickly selects Humungousaur on the Omnitrix and runs toward the creature as he slammed it down, but the Buglizard hits it with its tail knocking the alien hero back. It turns out Ben had turned into Water Hazard instead. Ben/Water Hazard hits a stand as he stands back up. This alien form is red, mollusk-like as his four green eyes are slitted and green eye-like markings on his chest. There are small grey spikes behind his legs and on top of his arms, black spots on his shoulders and legs, port holes in his hands allowing him to shoot water, four fingers with claws on them and feet, grey torso and basically red armor all over, and has crab-like features. The Omnitrix symbol is on his chest.

Ben/Water Hazard realizes what he looks like as he says disappointedly, "Oh. Water Hazard. Why can't I ever get Humungousaur?" The Buglizard charges for the alien hero as they crash to the floor. The alien hero yells at the creature to get off as Ruby growls as she howls like a Loboan and charges for the Buglizard and pushes it off with her strength. Rook finally appears holding out his Proto-Tool telling them, "Allow me to…" But Ben/Water Hazard holds his hand out in front of Rook telling him, "I got this!" The creature roars as it charges once more as Ben/Water Hazard blasts water at the creature, but it dodges and jumps at him and hops away. The alien hero gets up with a groan, telling them, "I-I got this." He goes to fight the creature but gets hit a lot as both Ruby and Rook wince at the hits he gets as Ruby tells Rook, "He really needs help." Rook nods telling her, "Yes, he does."

The creature then pins the alien hero down as Ben/Water Hazard has had enough as he asks his two partners, "Why are you two just standing there?" Ruby tells him sarcastically with a grin, "But don't you got this?" Rook nods telling Ben/Water Hazard, "We would not want to interfere." The hero shakes his head telling them, "No, it's cool! Interfere!" Rook and Ruby smirk as Rook holds up his Proto-Tool and aims for the creature. He relaxes and fires the blaster shooting a little rope which ties up the mouth, making Ben/Water Hazard throw the creature off as it crashes. Rook and Ruby run up to Ben/Water Hazard as the hero tells Rook, "Nice shot, Rook." Rook and Ruby smile at this as Ruby realizes that Ben is truly starting to warm up to them. The creature gets up and roars, tearing off the rope as Ben/Water Hazard whines at this.

The creature hops away leaping with two feet and goes to attack them, but all three manage to dodge as the Buglizard lands on the fruit stand. Rook landed by himself as the Buglizard goes to attack him as Rook goes to blast him, but it used its tail to deflect the blasts. But just as the Buglizard was going to bite him, Ruby grabs the creature's tail as she yells with a snarl, "Don't you dare touch him!" Ben/Water Hazard comes to help by pulling on the tail too. The same humanoid from before that own the dog shape-shifting alien realizes what's happening as he says to himself, "Three against one. Well, the odds are becoming a bit unsporting." He uses his gills whistle to call back his creature and Ruby hears the whistle too, but can't find out where its coming from. Suddenly the Buglizard swings its tail hard knocking Ruby and Ben/Water Hazard away as Buglizard spews out a yellow smoke, making it disappear as Ben/Water Hazard turns back to normal.

Ruby and Ben walk over to Rook as the Revonnahghander asks Ruby, "Are you alright, my friend?" Ruby nods telling him, "Yeah, I'm alright. You?" Rook nods as Ben tells them both, "Whoever sent that monster to kill me – he's the big bad. See how this works? Come on!" But the creature is gone as Ben sighs aggravated saying, "Which way did it go?" Ruby uses her aura powers to find it and she shakes her head saying, "I can't sense it. It's like it changed auras somehow." Rook then tells them, "Not to worry my friends. While you two were looking around, my investigation turned up a lead." Ben tells Rook as he and Ruby follow them, "Of course it did." Ruby and Ben follow Rook to a deep, dark and shady part of Undertown to a place that looks like a bar and the inside has blue-colored gas everywhere.

So Ben asks Rook sarcastically, "Don't tell us – the balloon squealed." So Rook tells them, "I was told that this is where that cyanic biped can be found this time of day." Ben questions it as he looks inside, "Bubble Helmet? In here?" Suddenly, an alien from the other side appears in front of Ben, scaring him as Ruby laughs at Ben's scared face as the alien from inside tells them, "Use the service entrance." Ben clears his throat telling Rook and Ruby, "Hope you're both okay with waiting outside. That's poison gas in there." Rook and Ruby put on gas masks that Rook already had on hand as he made sure Ruby's was on good and tight while Ruby does the same for him as he asks Ben, "Ready?" Ruby nods telling Ben. "Yeah, come on, dude. We've been waiting." Ben is shocked at this, but he and his two partners gets ready to go in and find out what's really going on…

* * *

And this is the end of The More Things Change Part 2 (1)! The Latin speel for this chapter is:

'Pomum crustae et candied bubulae jerky duos,' means 'Beef jerky and candied apple slices for two.'

Stay tuned for the second part sometime next week.


	6. CH 6 The More Things Change Part 2 (2)

Welcome to the continuation of Chapter 5's part 1 of The More Things Change Part 2! WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I thank you for taking the time to read this story. I'm so sorry, I went through heck the last few days so I hope you forgive me! I hope you like this continuation, for it shows the end of the adventure, and more bonding! The next chapter will come out sometime next week. Hope you all had a great holiday!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 6: The More Things Change Part 2 (2)

Rook stands in front of the doors of the poison-gassed alien bar as behind him are Ben and Ruby, as both of the new Plumbers have gas masks on them and not Ben. So Rook raises his leg and kicks the doors in with a grunt, breaking them as Ruby grins as she says in her head with a lovesick sigh, 'I love that alien!' Rook holds up his Plumber's badge from his own wallet as he calls out, "Appendages in the air!" The different aliens inside are confused as to what's going on as Ruby calls out, "Don't make any sudden moves! We're just here to find someone, so please go back to your business and games."

Ben then quickly turns into an alien form from the Omnitrix known as Terraspin. Terraspin is a green, turtle-like alien with six holes in his shell, large flipper-like arms and stumpy legs, brown spots on his upper legs, toes, and shoulders, thick black stripes under his eyes along with three holes which can extend three finger-like claws to use as fingers, and the Omnitrix symbol is on his chest.

Ben/Terraspin tells Rook and Ruby, "Will you two cool it with the badges? We're not cops." Ruby scoffs saying, "I'm not even trying to be a cop, dude!" Ben/Terraspin chuckles a little as he then uses his flippers and spins them around at supersonic speed, immediately sucking out the poison gas causing the aliens inside to not breathe the air as they start coughing. Once that was done, Ben/Terraspin stops as he tells Rook and Ruby, "Well, you two might be cops. But I'm a superhero." Rook points out to the villain they're looking for, "There he is." Bubble Helmet then goes to try and escape since he doesn't have his glass helmet. The two plumbers and alien hero corner Bubble Helmet as the three play keep away with his helmet as Ben/Terraspin tells the villain, "Nice hangout. Great atmosphere."

Bubble Helmet tarts wheezing as he falls to his knees as Ben/Terraspin asks him, "So, who's behind those shakedowns?" Bubble Helmet tells him as he's gasping, "I'll tell you…as soon as I can breathe." Ruby starts to feel a little bad for the alien, but she knows he'll try to escape, but Rook, being naïve, says as he puts the helmet on Bubble Helmet, "That is a fair bargain." Ruby gasps telling him, "Rook, no!" Bubble Helmet smirks evilly as soon as the helmet is back on as he turns a dial as gas flood into him making him breathe and activates a jet pack on him and flies away through the doors. Ben/Terraspin gets ready to fly as he spins his flippers at supersonic speed as Rook and Ruby latch onto the shell with Ruby on Rook as the alien hero flies out of there.

As the alien hero follows the bad guy, he asks his new partners, "You've both never dealt with actual bad guys before, have you?" So Rook tells Ben/Terraspin, "I have read about them in books, and I have trained extensively. Ruby on the other hand has fought bad guys and evildoers since she was nine." That almost made the alien hero stop in shock as Ruby awkwardly scratches the back of her neck as she says, "Yeah, it's kinda a long story, and you can thank some family friends of my family for that. And FYI, Rook? I was almost ten when I started fighting bad guys, remember?"

Rook laughs a little as he nods to her as both Rook and Ruby take off their gas masks as Ruby tells both boys seriously, "But now's not the time to talk about my childhood secret superhero days. We've gotta job to do and bad guys to bust!" Rook nods at this and tells Ben/Terraspin seriously, "Ruby is right. Don't lose him this time. This rodent will lead us back to the nest." Bubble Helmet keeps on flying away, hoping that they don't follow him to his and his group's headquarters.

* * *

In another part of the underground, looking like an abandoned subway as different multiple aliens are preparing the same red machines causing the destruction from Pakmar's Toilet Emporium and nearly destroyed Mr. Baumann's store. Their all starting them up as a little Red Pickaxe alien tells someone above in alien language. Up above, a gray alien with a face in the middle of his belly turns to the leader in charge as the leader says, "You will take these shakedown machines to the surface and fan out into the entire city." The face in the middle of the alien tells his boss, "But, boss, only the alien stores have the taydenite to pay us in."

The leader gets angry as he bangs his fist onto a desk, turns around and hits the head of the alien instead of the face in the middle as the head of the alien starts to cry as the leader, shrouded in shadows tells him angrily, "Dolt! Fear is my currency. All money is just a way to keep score. My reputation will be made once the whole city fears the name-!" Just as he was about to say his name, Bubble Helmet calls out, exclaiming to everyone as he comes in through a tunnel on his jet pack, "Ben 10! They're after me, boys!" Ben/Terraspin appear inside with Rook and Ruby on his back. Bubble Helmet flies below as Ruby nods to Rook, as Rook hops off of Ben/Terraspin and lands on Bubble Helmet making him crash down to the floor as the villain skids along the floor knocking him down as Rook tells the villain angrily, "We had a deal."

Ben/Terrapin tells him, "Rook! Heads-up!" Rook looks up in confusion as he then realizes the alien villains ahead of him as he gets up and puts his hands to the air, realizing what has happened. Ben/Terraspin turns back to normal as he and Ruby put their hands up as well as Ben tells Rook sarcastically, "Nice." Ruby sighs aggravated saying, "I should have known this would happen." The alien gets their weapons ready to fire as Bubble Helmet gets up and runs to them as Ben quietly tells his partners, "Look – a boatload of those shakedown machines. That spells a boatload of shakedown." Rook then asks Ben confused, "That is quite a lot?" Ruby nods telling Rook, "Definitely, Rookie. Enough to take out the city, my home, maybe even Undertown too."

The villain finally makes himself known as he comes out of the shadows as he tells Ben, "Ben Tennyson. Here to ruin my plan? I think not!" Ben calls out to the villain in shock, "Psyphon?!" Psyphon is an old minion/lackey of one of Ben 10's greatest enemies called Vilgax. Psyphon has a skeletal appearance as his body is white with black markings, the fin on his head is round like a spike which is mostly black with one white strip, spikes on his left and right hands and a mark on his chin, and a black robe with red marks in the middle. Rook smirks telling Ben, "It seems my investigation led us right to your big bad." Ruby smiles as she tells Rook quietly through her teeth, a little angry, "Nice job, Rookie. And thanks to that, you got us in trouble." Rook then realizes his blunder as he chuckles nervously before looking down ashamed.

Ben then asks Psyphon in somewhat shock and suspicion, "Psyphon?! You're the one who's been jacking up the stores in Bellwood? You were always like Vilgax's third-toughest lackey!" As Ben says this, him and his two partners had already dropped their hands as Psyphon grins psychotically telling Ben, "It seems you have underestimated me." Ben scoffs telling the villain, "Uh, yeah. Who wouldn't?" Ruby tilts her head as she asks Ben jokingly, "Stupid people like you?" Ben growls a little angry at that Ruby laughs a little. Psyphon then angrily tells Bubble Helmet, "You led Ben Tennyson right to me. I don't know whether to thank you or eviscerate you." Bubble Helmet whines a little as he then asks Psyphon with a guess, "Thank me?"

Sadly, his answer involved shooting him with an energy weapon as he screams in pain and falls to the ground. Psyphon was the one who fired it from his glove as he asks Ben, "Thank you. You must have wondered what ever became of me, Ben Tennyson." Ben shakes his head telling Psyphon, "Not even a little bit." Psyphon tells the alien hero with a psychotic grin, "Of course. You still think of me as a servant. But now, I am master, so you cannot imagine the joy with which I say this-!"

Psyphon then yells down to the lackeys below, "Get them, boys!" The alien minions start firing their weapons as Rook, Ben and Ruby scatter taking down villains. Rook takes down an enemy that looks like a humanoid pig alien called Thunderpig as Ruby turns Loboan as she attacks some of the little red Pickaxe aliens one by one with red aura blasts along with her sharp claws. Ben then tries to get away from the laser blasts that are firing at him as he finally makes it to a subway car. Two of the minions are getting to the subway car as Ben asks the Omnitrix by begging as he searches through it, "Come on! Work for once!" And with a beep, the alien is selected as the aliens are pushed back as Ben has turned into Armodrillo.

Armodrillo is a robotic humanoid alien that has a yellow-armored body and looks like a robot. His head is similar to a Greek Corinthian helmet with two ears on it making him look like an armadillo. Armodrillo has a gray tail and jackhammer parts on his elbows, wrists and hands, making him a digging robot. He also has grey bolts with black markings on his shoulders and has a metal circle on top of his head, yellow feet and grey toes fingers have a small horizontal line design along with the tail and black parts of his limbs. And the Omnitrix symbol is on his chest.

Ben/Armodrillo uses his arms to grab Shakedown machines and launch them into different directions to take down the aliens as Rook is above, firing at some aliens with his Proto-Tool as it became a blaster. Ruby flips over to the top as she tells Rook as before she fires a red supersonic howl at the aliens, "We're having fun now, Rookie!" Rook nods telling her with a grin, "You can say that again, my friend! We are in." Rook keeps on firing until he notices something coming for Ben/Armodrillo as he yells out to the alien hero, "Ben! Behind you!" From behind the alien hero at the top of a subway car, Thunderpig aims and fires at the hero as Ben/Armodrillo uses an arm to launch one of the Shakedown machines at him making him fall to the floor on the other side. Ben/Armodrillo charges for the subway car breaking it as he makes it to the other side as he takes down some aliens yelling, "Break it up, people!"

He is still being fired upon but the alien hero has an idea as exclaims, "Better yet, let me break it up for you!" Ben/Armodrillo runs taking down Shakedown machines with his jackhammer-like arms as Rook and Ruby made it to the other side. Ruby quickly grabs her wooden bow as she pulls back on it and an arrow appears. She then aims it at a stand near the ceiling as she fires making the arrow hit one part of it and then pulls back again making another arrow appear and then fires it at the other part making the stand fall as all the stuff on it falls and hits the minions. Ruby and Rook run toward the fallen villains as Ruby grins and winks telling the villains, "Nice day for a butt-kicking, eh boys?" Rook grins at this as he tries to make a witty remark, but he does not have one as he tells Ruby, "Forgive me, my friend. I haven't any witty remarks."

* * *

Ruby pats his shoulder in comfort as Ben/Armodrillo appears telling Rook, "Don't force it, Rook. Let the wisecrack come to you." Suddenly, one of the Shakedown machines was thrown at Ben/Armodrillo as he's thrown away, crashing through pillars as he crashes to the floor. Once he landed, he looked up seeing it was Psyphon who did it as he grabs another one and charges for the alien hero as Ben/Armodrillo is thrown out of the base as he crashes somewhere in Undertown at a stand.

Psyphon appears behind him telling him, "Did you think I would be unprepared?" Psyphon then fires a blast at one of Ben/Armodrillo's arms causing it to swell up as the alien hero aims toward the ground making a giant earthquake throughout the town. Rook and Ruby watch from the hole Ben/Armodrillo was launched out of as Ruby says in awe, "Oh, boy…" Rook notices the earthquake is heading towards them as he grabs Ruby and pulls her away, so she doesn't get hurt.

Ben/Armodrillo is starting to get scared as he tries to stop his jackhammer arm as he asks stuttering, "W-w-what's happened to me-e-e-e-e?!" The arm launches itself as it destroys numerous stands as the alien hero groans dizzily. And all of this is being watched by the same humanoid alien who has his alien shapeshifting dog who is still a Buglizard. So the owner tells his pet, "Separate them. Tennyson is my quarry." The Buglizard goes to do it's master's bidding as Psyphon explains to Ben/Armodrillo what it is he did, "My exciter beam has overloaded your nervous system." Ben/Armodrillo realizes what's happening as he tells Psyphon stuttering, "S-somebody's gonna get hurt!" Psyphon grins and laughs evilly telling the hero, "Only by you, hero." Ben/Armodrillo has to think of something fast or everyone in Undertown will get hurt…or worse, killed! Including his new partners.

The hero quickly looks to the side seeing a generator that helps control the power in Undertown. He quickly has an idea as he jams the rapidly moving jackhammer arm into the power box, which not only electrocutes him, but turns him back to normal Ben as he uses his other arm to tap it. Ben falls back to the ground as he suddenly starts to twitch with injuries as Psyphon tells him, "That unpleasant, twitchy feeling is only temporary. But I have so many sensations left to show you." He brings out his energy gun from his wrist and prepares to fire, when suddenly, alien citizens start screaming in fear behind him as Buglizard appears charging into the fight as it destroys stands. It lets out the yellow gas from before, as Ben prepares to run while holding his injured arm, but Buglizard still finds him and pins Ben to a wall.

The still twitching teenager as he starts to get scared as he tells Psyphon, "For goodness' sake! Psyphon! Call your dog off!" Psyphon who had fallen to the ground, stands back up as he tells Ben while coughing as the creature turns around and growls angrily at Psyphon, "He's not mine!" Psyphon then runs away as Ben looks on shocked, as suddenly Rook and Ruby appear, as they go to catch Psyphon as Rook yells out, "Halt!" Then Ruby yells out to Psyphon, "Yeah, we want to kick your butt!" Ben is now in trouble as Buglizard charges for him as Ben then quickly slams down the watch despite not looking and transforms just as Buglizard tries to bite him. Through the smoke caused by the crash, Buglizard is blown away by an electrical shock as through the smoke, is Ben as the alien, Shocksquatch!

Shocksquatch is a sasquatch-like alien as he has yellow and black fur, grey fingers and toes, four fingers for each hand, two bolts on the side of his wrist, green eyes with black pupils, yellow horns. And he has a green belt with the Omnitrix symbol. Ben/Shocksquatch grins saying in his Canadian voice as he chuckles, "Shocksquatch? Okay, eh!"

* * *

Rook and Ruby are chasing after Psyphon who is flying away in a narrow tunnel, hits parts of the wall causing pipes to spew out water and fall down as both Rook and Ruby leap over one of the pipes and run through the water. Rook then orders Psyphon with a yell, "Psyphon! This is your last warning!" Psyphon grins evilly as he flies out of the tunnel and fires energy blasts at the tunnel causing water to fall as Psyphon says, "Pests." But out of the smoke, Rook and Ruby leap into the air and land on the ground. Psyphon looks at them shocked but grins evilly as his eyes glow red, "I must have that armor!"

* * *

Back with Ben/Shocksquatch, he gets ready to fight until Buglizard charges for the alien hero knocking him down. But as the creature did this, it got electrocuted making it fly back as the alien hero attacks once more with double punches landing a hit. He punches the creature some more with shocking hits. But he unknowingly caused the ground to break under them as both fall into the subway tunnel underneath.

* * *

Back with Rook and Ruby, they are fighting Psyphon in an abandoned part of Undertown. Rook and Ruby are dodging Psyphon's eyes blasts as they leap and hold onto a platform. They quickly start running as Ruby tells him, "There is no way I'm letting that guy ever get my Proto-Tech armor!" They both quickly leap to a part of the wooden structure, launch themselves to a beam and start climbing, then leap to another platform while trying to dodge the eye blasts.

But then the eye blasts cut off their running path as Psyphon stops for a moment trying to find them as Rook yells to Psyphon, "The body armor's not for sale, Psyphon." Ruby yells out to the villain agreeing with Rook, "Yeah, mine is special for crying out loud! It matches my magical hood and most of my wardrobe!" Psyphon then fires another blast where they are as they both gasp as Ruby quickly protects her and Rook with her shield spell.

Psyphon laughs evilly saying, "Oh, I don't want to buy them. I will pry them from your lifeless bodies. How green are you two?" Suddenly, the whole wooden structure is starting to come down thanks to Psyphon's eye blasts. A part of it nearly hits Ruby until Rook pulled her away. He then activates the grappler part of his Proto-Tool and gets them both out of the destruction as Psyphon falls to the ground thanks to the wooden structure going down.

Once the smoke clears away, Rook and Ruby are above Psyphon as Rook tells the villain with a grin, "Not so green that I let a tunnel collapse on me." Ruby grins telling Rook, "Congrats Rookie! You just made your first wisecrack!" Rook smiles saying, "I did, didn't I? Now, let's go find Ben." Ruby nods at Rook as she then says to Rook then Psyphon, "But first…I ain't green dude. I'm red, as in flamin' blood red! I fought baddies for almost as long as Ben Tennyson has." Ruby and Rook then tie up Psyphon with nearby rope as the two teens go to find Ben.

* * *

Back with Ben/Shocksquatch, Buglizard has just pinned the alien hero down to the ground as it snarls. The hero notices a light and looks up seeing the same tour tram from before appear as it has no brakes. Ben/Shocksquatch then gets an idea as he lays down flat and holds up the creature by his mouth as it gets hit by the tour tram saving the hero. But Buglizard leaps off the tram and goes to attack the hero Ben/Shocksquatch eye rolls saying, "Still there?" But then he looks up seeing the pipe with a ladder and has another idea as he grins saying, "Here we go." So he runs and leaps as the alien misses him as Ben/Shocksquatch climbs up the pipe as Buglizard climbs up the pipe to get him. Once the hero was near the top and Buglizard was at the metal, Ben/Shocksquatch says before electrocuting the pipe, "Almost there. Right…there!"

The electricity electrocutes Buglizard as the pain from the shock makes it fall out of the pipe, thus shocking it into submission. The creature lays still on the ground as Ben/Shocksquatch falls down from the pipe and lands on his feet as he taps the Omnitrix, thus turning him back to normal. Rook and Ruby appear with the tied up Psyphon as Rook tells Ben, "Ben. I made a wisecrack." And Ruby grins saying, "And we took down the baddie! How do you like us now?!" Ben grins at that as suddenly, yellow gas erupts from Buglizard again as it makes its escape leaving Ben, Ruby and Rook with Psyphon. Ruby tries to smell around and sense the creature's aura as she tells everyone, "It's gone. Too far away for me to find it." The boys nod as all three round up Psyphon and his lackeys to take them to the Plumbers street level.

In a part of the forest outside of Bellwood, where Scarlet and Ruby have not been to, there is an alien ship belonging to the humanoid alien with the shape-shifting dog. Inside are pelts, skeletons, shells and skulls of certain aliens Ben has used along with other unknown aliens, including a Loboan pelt that has brown fur. Buglizard comes back to its master by his side as the creature turns back to its alien dog form as the humanoid alien sharpens his blade as he tells his dog, "You did well, old friend. But this Ben Tennyson is more powerful than I imagined…and resourceful. And that Half-Loboan that helped him…she is strong, fast and more powerful than any other Loboan I have seen...or hunted. Both of them together, may be our greatest trophies. A Half-Alien and magic-using hybrid may not be so bad for my collection. Khyber the Huntsman promises it." And with that, the humanoid alien is an alien hunter named Khyber, and not only is he after Ben…but he is now after the Half-Loboan Sorceress, Ruby.

* * *

Some time later, the Plumbers were called from Rook and Ruby with their Plumber badges as they are gathering up Psyphon and his lackeys as Fistina, Bubble Helmet and Liam are taken into the prison jail cars. As soon as the Plumbers were called, Rook and Ruby disappeared to get something. Psyphon exclaims to the Plumbers as he's handcuffed, "I am telling you! I don't know what that creature was!" A fish alien Plumer known as Magister Patelliday tells Psyphon a bit bored, "Yeah, tell it to the Arbiter. Transport's topside." Psyphon is taken away as Grandpa Max asks Ben with a smile, "So, how'd you like your new partners?" Ben grins telling his Grandfather, "They fight okay. Rook's kind of a doughnut hole, though. But Ruby's pretty cool. I think I can get used to them being my partners. Especially if Ruby's around."

Rook and Ruby had just returned from what they were getting, and grinned that Ben likes them and wants them to be his partners. Rook and Ruby secretly low-fived with each other as they appear behind Ben as Rook asks him about the doughnut hole comment, "Is that good?" So Ben tells Rook sarcastically as Ruby shakes her head, "Oh…sure. See?" So Grandpa then tells Ben, "Well, Ben, you've been doing this awhile now. Maybe it's somebody else's turn to be the doughnut hole." Ben is now confused by what Grandpa meant, but the teenager turns around when he hears Ruby tell him as she holds up a smoothie, "Time to get some real good food in you, dude. Grandpa Max once told me that you prefer Chili Fries, and a Smoothie. So Rook and I got a couple of smoothies and a bag of Chili Fries." Then Rook tells Ben as he holds up the bag of Chili Fries, "Care to join us?"

Ben looks at them shocked, as he grins really big telling them as he holds up a hand, "PARTNERS!" With that, Rook and Ruby smirk as all three of them shake hands as Ruby says in her head, 'Hook, line and sinker. We are so in!' A new friendship is made with these three friends as Rook and Ruby have bonded even more. Once today's events ended, Ruby returned back home and told her mother of her adventure. Scarlet was impressed and proud of her daughter of what she accomplished. Ruby had even contacted Zak and his family, letting them know how she was doing.

They were all proud of her and Zak told her he couldn't wait to see her in person and hang out with her again. After dinner, Ruby headed to bed in her PJ's with a special stuffed toy that she has slept with ever since her mother made it for her when she was born. It's a stuffed 'Red Riding Wolf' Animal where it is a dark brown, almost black wolf with a red hood. Ruby fell asleep with a smile knowing that Rook is finally here on Earth to work with her, she's working along side with Ben 10 as well, and that she is truly a Plumber. What new adventures await for Ruby and her two friends, as one of them is her imprintee? To find out, you need to read more!

* * *

And that is the end of this chapter! This was fun to do. No Latin spells this chapter.

Stay tuned sometime later this week or sometime next week to find out what happens next! It all depends on my schedule and my partner's. Have a good day!


	7. Chapter 7 A Jolt From The Past Part 1

Welcome to a fun new chapter for you all to like, love and enjoy! Can you believe it?!

A brand new year is here! Hope you all had a great New Year's Eve and Day! Also, real quick, starting this week, I may be busy looking through job ads to find a job. So with that and possibly finding a new job, updates will be slower. So, the next chapter may come sometime later next week.

This new chapter includes Ben, Rook and Ruby on a patrol mission, more team bonding, more love couple bonding with Rook and Ruby, and more bad guy fighting. WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I hope that you like this chapter! Please review if you wish!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 7: A Jolt From The Past Part 1

5 Years Before Omniverse Begins, and 1 Year After Original Series

It is nighttime in the city of Bellwood and all is peaceful, that is until a stray bolt of lightning appears as it hits the grand opening sign of one of the soon to be most popular smoothie restaurants in the world, called Mr. Smoothie. The stray bolt of lightning travels through the metal pole holding the sign in place as it dives into the ground. Suddenly, inside the smoothie restaurant, a cash register short-circuits as out of nowhere, a little yellow and black battery-like alien appears with a lightning bolt on their chest and arms and legs, pop out of the cash register causing money to fly out. The little alien cackles out maniacally as it starts destroying things with electrical blasts. Out of nowhere, an alien flies into the restaurant from the front doors and its Ben as Stinkfly!

Stinkfly is a bug-like alike who has four insect-like flat legs with two arms, three clawed fingers, four pedunculated big green eyes that are linked directly to the sides of his huge black head. Along with very fragile light green wings with lines, light brown-greenish limbs and black and white clothes that spreads to his forehead. And the Omnitrix symbol is on the top of his forehead.

Ben/Stinkfly grins as he snorts shooting out his green goop from his eyes at the little alien. The little battery alien dodges for a little until he gets hit by goop as its stuck to the smoothie machine. Ben/Stinkfly tells the little alien in his squeaky/nasally voice, "Man, you Megawatts are annoying!" The little alien grunts trying to break free as he breaks out of the goop as he giggles evilly. It then raises its hands and fires his electrical energy to the smoothie nozzles as they come undone and shootout smoothie at the young alien hero.

Once he hits the counter, the Omnitrix times out turning Ben/Stinkfly back into 11 year old Ben. Ben complains about this as he touches parts of his body covered in smoothie and tries to shake it off in disgust, "Ow. So annoying. Blah! Smoothies! Who'd ever want to drink something like that?" If only he knew…The little megawatt still laughs evilly at the fun he's having as it then zips into the building through the lights, destroying them in the process.

Ben growls as he then grabs a Mr. Smoothie cup from the counter and runs out as the little Megawatt zips through different lights until it's outside. But it did not see Ben coming at him with a smoothie cup thus trapping him inside it as Ben tells him, "Fun's over! At least this time, there's only one of you!"…That's what he thinks. The smoothie cup rattles as it starts to vibrate through Ben as he has a very bad feeling as the little alien explodes the cup and freed himself as Ben was flown back from the force. The Megawatt then flies into the air and sucks the city dry of electricity as suddenly, it starts to multiply! Ben starts to worry as he says to himself, "One, two, three, four. Hundreds!" Ben then complains exclaiming, "Aw, man!"

The Megawatts are spinning around in one big circle as the electricity around them crackles as Ben complains once more, "Great. And, of course, I don't have anything that can handle electricity." But suddenly, Ben remembers a certain alien he has as he smirks saying, "Oh, wait. Yeah, I do!" He activates the Omnitrix as he slams it down, turning into Feedback! Ben/Feedback exclaims to himself with a grin, "Totally forgot about Feedback!" One of the Megawatts cackles maniacally at Ben/Feedback as the alien hero frowns telling the alien, "Let's see you laugh without any energy!" Ben/Feedback raises his arms as he sucks out the electrical energy from out of every single Megawatt. It works as all of the Megawatts fall gently to the ground as they all go fast asleep. Ben/Feedback then proudly exclaims, "Oh, yeah! Because nobody – and I mean nobody – makes a fool out of Ben 10!"

The RV of Grandpa, as he calls it the Rustbucket, appears as Gwen and Grandpa run out with sheets as they drop them onto the Megawatts as Grandpa says, "It's a good thing Ben still needs his rubber sheets. These should make for good insulation." As Grandpa rolls up the Megawatts, collecting them, Gwen turns around to tell something to Ben/Feedback with a smirk, but the alien hero interrupts her saying, "Don't go there, Gwen." Gwen pouts, realizing she won't be making a joke as they continue to round up the Megawatts.

* * *

Back to Present Day

It has been about three days since Gwen and Kevin left, and Ben getting two new partners. Ben has been working with his two new partners by going through patrols with the two, but lately he's been feeling bored, especially since he feels like a tour guide to Rook. But Ben likes having Ruby for a partner and friend. She's different from all the other girls he's known. And it's nice to be around someone that's not like his cousin for a change. As for Ruby and Rook, they have hung out together in the Plumber Headquarters as they have been busy working on something special.

Ruby has also been at home when she can, especially when hanging out with the animals of the forest. Just yesterday, she had a race with the wolves that lived around her home and won, and also did a little wood carving. Scarlet had told her daughter to invite Rook and Ben over to their home some time. After all, the woman wanted to meet her daughter's imprintee and her new friend. Basically, the three teens have grown to enjoy each other's company. But they may like it even more starting tonight.

Ben had just entered in the garage at Plumber HQ while drinking a smoothie, as he is very, very late. Rook and Ruby were waiting patiently for Ben to arrive, well…mostly Rook. Ruby became a little impatient, so she had decided to bring her wood carving sculpture to Plumber HQ while waiting for Ben. She was able to get it with her magic as she was carving on it with her claw-like nails. The little statue is of Rook as he is holding his Proto-Tool as a bow. She was struck with inspiration for her wood carving, so she decided to make it for Rook.

Today, Ruby is wearing her hero outfit and her magical red hood has changed into a short long-sleeved maroon leather biker chic-styled jacket with a fabric-made hood and a black loboan with red eyes appliqué on the back in memory of her father, and the jacket has her Plumber Badge below her neck and on the chest. As soon as the doors opened and Ben had appeared, Ruby perked up as she quickly said a spell to send her wood sculpture back home, "Mitte sculptura ligni ad domum." The wood sculpture disappears as she stands beside Rook and Grandpa Max as Ben walks over while slurping his smoothie as Ben tells the three, "Sorry I'm late."

Grandpa Max then tells his grandson, "You're not on your own schedule anymore, Ben. You can't keep your partners waiting. Especially when one of them happens to be a Half-Loboan." Ruby growls in response, agreeing with Grandpa as Ben gets a little scared at the growl, but then he tells Grandpa a little nervously, "I was…off saving the universe." Grandpa Max doesn't believe him as he looks at the smoothie cup in Ben's hand, but grins a little as he walks off as Ruby scoffs telling Ben, "Dude, next time you say that, make you sure get rid of the evidence first." Ben chuckles nervously with a grin, thanking her for the advice as the boy tells his two partners, "Come on, you two, let's go. I'm parked over here." Ruby suddenly grins a wolf grin as her ears and tail pop out as the tail wags excitedly. Ben has gotten used to that happening, he thought it was kinda cute for Ruby to be like that.

As Ruby grinned and with her tail wagging, Rook tells Ben showing him to a section of cars, "We will take mine." Ben turns around to see one of the coolest vehicles in history as it looks like a black, white, red and green tank/SUV/monster truck like car with a weapon at the top. Ben look shocked and in awe of the vehicle, but the vehicle started up and drove away, revealing the truth of Rook's ride. The ride looks like a small tan semi truck with 'Max's Plumbing' written on it along with a comical symbol of Grandpa Max with a wrench while the front part of the truck is yellow. And immediately seeing the real ride, Ben is disappointed in it as he tells Rook sarcastically it, "Wow. I bet the girls all start screaming when they see this ride rolling down the block. Did Ruby scream when she saw this?"

Ruby growls quietly saying to herself as her eyes start to turn red as she ignored the last part of what he said, "If any of them do, I'll give them a real reason to scream!" The two boys didn't hear what she said as Rook then holds up a remote telling Ben with a smirk, "Females are not afraid of my vehicle, especially Ruby, but they probably should be." Rook presses a button, and before Ben's eyes, the truck turned into a small h*** space ship! Ben looks at the true form of the ship shocked as Ruby laughs at the shocked look on his face, telling him, "What? Did you really think we'd have a lame ride? As if! Rook and I have been working on this baby sometime during our Plumber Academy days in our mechanics classes and after our first mission with you." Ben grins as he tells the two, "You both built this thing?! It's awesome!"

Both of his new partners nod with grins as Ben then tells them, "Well then, let's go." As they get in, Ruby tells Rook with a grin, "See? I told you he'd like our ride!" Rook nodded in glee as all three of them buckle up with Rook in the driver's seat, Ruby in the middle and Ben on the right side of the vehicle closest to the window. The ship known as the Proto-TRUK, starts up as he ship zooms into the tunnel that leads up to the surface. As it did so, it turns back into it's normal form of a small semi-truck. A wall from a metal tunnel comes down along with strange container like objects go down as well as the Proto-TRUK drives onto the road as the tires screech.

* * *

Ruby relaxes being in the middle, loving to sit there better. She didn't want to sit at the window because that would mean having to put her head out as he tongue would flap in the wind like a normal dog would. She loved it sometimes, but she wanted a break from doing it. Plus having her sit in the middle, meant being closer to Rook. Something she was more than happy to do and enjoyed very much sitting right next to the alien guy she was secretly in love with and magnetically drawn to as well as being really close to him.

Ben slurps his smoothie from his seat as he holds his head with his hand, feeling bored with himself. Rook and Ruby had noticed this for a while, but felt they shouldn't have to say anything, but Rook could not take it anymore as he asks Ben, "I am not familiar with human emotional cues, besides the ones I receive from Ruby, but are you angry at us?" Ben realizes his smoothie cup is empty as he tells them, "Nah, just bored. I'm feeling more like a tour guide than a hero lately." He then proves his example by saying, "Over here on your right, you'll see a city. Over here on your left, you'll see what we call water. Careful, it's wet."

Rook nods saying, "Water is wet. I am familiar with that." Ruby groans telling Ben, "In a way, I can almost relate to you, Ben. Besides being with family friends since I was almost ten up until I was twelve, my home life wasn't really boring, but it did get a little same-old same-old from time-to-time since I had no human friends to talk to or hang out with. But I was able to have a lot of fun in the forests with hanging out with the animals, wolf racing, exploring and adventuring the wilderness while learning survival skills, freerunning, acrobatics by leaping onto trees and doing tricks, archery, yoga, swimming, music, wood carving, and learning how to cook and bake from my mom.

But along with living with my family's friends for almost three years, going to Plumber Academy helped though. New action and new friends? You gotta love it!" Ben looks at her slack-jawed for a minute, but he grins at how she does a lot of cool things as he asks her jokingly, "Sounds like your homelife is a lot more interesting then you give it credit for. And if you can cook and bake better than my mom, remind to taste some of whatever you can make."

Ruby nods telling him, "Thank you, Ben. That's really sweet of you to say. I'll make sure you taste some of my most tastiest and mouthwatering dishes when you guys come over to my place when we get the chance." Again, Rook feels that gnawing feeling in his heart about how well the two are bonding. He's not sure if he should like it or not, after all he's happy that Ruby has made a friend in Ben. Ben then frowns as he apologizes to his partners, "I'm sorry that I left you two waiting around. I just don't want to change how I work. I've saved the universe a million times – at least!"

Ruby grins telling him, "Yeah, that's better than what I did back with my family friends. I mean, I only helped them save the planet, not the universe. But saving the world can be really hard and really stressful on you at times, but it can be kinda fun as long as you treat it like a game to keep off the pressure of the fact the fate of the world as well as the lives of innocence rests on your shoulders." Ben laughs at that, immediately feeling cheered up.

Rook then tells Ben, "You see? That is why Ruby and I look forward to this. Not only would you hear stories of Ruby and her adventures of fighting evildoers, which I love to listen to, but we also hoped the real Ben Tennyson lives up to the legends." Ruby blushes at the mention of Rook loving to hear of her adventures as Ben pauses from his drink as he asks the two excitedly, "There are legends about me?!" Rook and Ruby nods as Rook asks Ben, "They cannot all be true, though. For instance, Alien X – that is just a rumor that a fan made up, and put on the extranet, right?"

Ruby laughs a little saying, "I doubt that, Rookie. If I can face off against an enemy that can control an entire species, his lackies and evil creatures from those species, anything is possible. Alien X has to be real." Ben grins telling them, "Ruby's right. Alien X is very real." Rook grins as Ruby nods, knowing she was right as Rook asks Ben excitedly, "He is? Show us! Change into Alien X right now!" Ben suddenly starts to get uncomfortable, "I'd better not. It's a whole thing." Ruby looks at him confused as Rook looks disappointed as Rook says, "Just as I thought." Ruby asks Ben very curious as well as knowingly, "Did something happen with Alien X that caused you to not use him anymore?"

Ben nods a little telling her before telling Rook, "Something like that. And as for you, Rook, find us a little heroing to do, and you can tell me if I live up to the legend." Ben then finally notices Ruby's jacket as he then asks her, "Uh, Rubes? Where's your cloak? If you're supposed to be a superhero Red Riding Hood, shouldn't you have it on?" Ruby smirks telling him, "Ben, this is my cloak." Ben looks at her confused saying, "Huh?" Ruby sighs telling him, "My Red Riding Hood Cloak is magical, Ben. It can magically change into any shade of red, be institched with any kind of designs, be made out of any fabric, shorten or grow to any length, and take on any style of vest, jacket, or any kind of outerwear tops, while still having the hood part. That and it makes me look more fashionable." Ben nods, understanding as Rook drives into the city, going to find any evil.

* * *

In the city, little crab-like aliens are munching on parts of a car as the Proto-TRUK's semi truck form passed by them before stopping as it backs up facing the little aliens. Ben raises his head out as he prepares to slam down the Omnitrix to turn into an alien… but the three little crab-like aliens spit out the parts they were eating and even tried to place a license plate back onto the car even though it fell off. The little aliens look up smiling innocently until Ben realizes they're not a threat and stays in the car as Ruby waves to the little aliens with a grin telling them, "Hi, cuties! Thanks for trying to fix that!" The little aliens wave a leg at her smiling as Rook drives off as Ben is disappointed.

Next the three teenagers are running in an alley chasing a blue tentacle like alien that is carrying a purse in its mouth. As soon as the alien turned around a corner, they were back in the city part as they see the alien behind an old woman on a bench. Ruby looks on in concern as Ben prepares to slam the Omnitrix down, but Ruby grabs his arm telling him, "Wait, Ben! Look closer." The blue tentacled alien gives the purse back to the old woman, who finally realized her purse was gone.

She smiled and turned around to thank the person, but it was the alien who got the purse as he 'tips his hat off to her', like a gentleman. But the old woman is scared as she screams in terror as she tries to get away as once again, Ben is disappointed as he angrily glares at Ruby as she tells him, "Dude, not every alien is a bad guy. I actually know that alien. He's truly a gentleman. So stop being grumpy."

Next, they chase a big alien with a furry body and a tentacle head going after a little brain alien with tentacles and a glass dome. They cornered them in an alley as the three teenagers get out of the Proto-TRUK as Ben prepares to slam down the Omnitrix. Ruby realizes who the two cornered aliens are, as she sighs annoyed saying, "Not again!" Upon closer inspection, the big alien grabs the little alien and feeds it a bottle as the little alien drinks happily as Ben and Rook realize that they are mother and child. Ben smiles nervously as he and Rook show that they came in peace as the three teenagers go back into the Proto-TRUK as Ben starts to get annoyed of having no heroing to do.

Some time later, the Proto-TRUK is parked in an alley as the teens are taking a break. Rook and Ruby are currently eating, because they didn't have any dinner thanks to you-know-who. They're both currently eating strawberries as Ben tells his partners feeling bored, "Some heroing so far. At least the world is safe from car-munching aliens." Ruby corrects him saying with a grin, "Ah! Cute car-munching aliens." She eats a strawberry as Ben notices some teenage boy walking on the street as Ben says, "Look, some normal dude. Maybe we should arrest him for jaywalking." The teenage boy that's walking on the street has long black hair with an orange strip in it which covers the right half of his face, wears a black shirt with a strange skull-insignia, purple pants with bandages on his right leg, and a strange tech backpack which is connected to a cell phone.

Ruby and Rook look at the boy strangely as Rook asks Ben and Ruby, "His phone should not be able to be powered here on Earth. Is that normal?" The boy turns around, thinking he is being watched as Ben nods saying, "No, that's not normal." Ruby growls with her ears, tail, fangs and claws appearing as she tells them as her eyes start turning red, "I've got a bad feeling about this kid." Rook, Ruby and Ben nod to each other as they get out of the car as Ruby turns into her Loboan form and they follow him into an alley as the teenager talks to someone on his phone, "Well, you tell her that I'm part of something big!" Thinking he hears something, he turns around only for Rook, Ruby and Ben to hide. The teenage boy narrows his eyes as he then talks into his phone, "I'll call you back. Corvo out."

The three teenage heroes hide by a dumpster when suddenly, the cell phone the teenage boy known as Corvo was using, turns into a laser gun as he fires it by the dumpster as Ben quickly covers his partners, protecting them from the blast. Corvo escapes as Ben runs to catch him as he then tells his partners with a cheeky grin, "You're welcome." Ruby smirks a wolf grin as she and Rook follow Ben as Ruby howls out, "Finally, some excitement!"

Corvo runs into another alleyway getting inside an orange dune buggy as he drives out of there, nearly running them over as the three teenagers go after him. Ben quickly slams down the Omnitrix saying as he heads toward a wall, "Big Chill will let me cut right through these buildings." But instead of Big Chill, he hits the wall and lands on his butt, as he looks at himself seeing he turned into the first alien he ever turned into, Heatblast!

Heatblast is a fiery humanoid, magma-based life-form whose body is composed of a bright inner magma body covered by a dark red or brown rocks as his body radiates high amounts of heat. His feet are slightly oval-like with two front toes and one back toe and the Omnitrix symbol is on his chest. Ben/Heatblast asks himself annoyed, "Heatblast?! Seriously?!" Ruby starts to laugh a little saying, "Dude, that watch really does hate you." Ben/Heatblast smirks saying, "Time to improvise." The alien hero flies up thanks to his fire powers as he follows Corvo from the air.

Corvo quickly grabs his laser gun and fires it at the alien hero who dodges it. Corvo looks to the road and gasps as he dodges a car that should have hit him. The car is the Proto-TRUK as Rook and Ruby are inside. Rook is driving it as he spins the car around as he turns it into its ship form as he starts it up as he follows Corvo. The Proto-TRUK and Ben/Heatblast follow him as they all turns a corner. Ben/Heatblast blasts up a little bit as he falls down, then blasts down as he aims carefully and fires a fire blast at one of the tires making it skid and stop.

The Omnitrix then times out turning Ben back to normal while still about two feet above the ground. Ben complains, knowing what this means as he exclaims, "Aw, this one's gonna sting a little!" Ben falls to the ground, skid hopping by his butt as lands on his gut as the Proto-TRUK zooms in on the Dune Buggy, but Corvo run tries to run away.

As he tried so, Rook and Ruby hopped out of the Proto-TRUK as they stopped it. As they hopped out, they caught Corvo and pinned him to the ground. Rook handcuffs him as Ben walks over and Corvo yells at all three teenagers getting angry, "What is your deal?! I wasn't doing anything!" Rook glares at Corvo telling him with a somewhat feral glare, "Except shooting at Plumbers, especially when one of them is my dearest friend." Ruby blinks in shock as she blushes a little as Ben then tells Corvo as he looks at his cell phone/laser gun tech backpack, "And a superhero. Alien communicator, alien weapon. Please tell me you work for someone big and dangerous so I can kick his butt." Corvo scoffs telling them, "You guys wouldn't last a minute against my boss!"

Ruby smirks a wolfy smirk telling him, "Wanna bet, tough guy? I'd like to see for myself if he's as tough as you claim!" Ruby stiffens as he Loboan ears rise up as she then says, "I hear something." Ruby turns to the dune buggy and so do Rook and Ben as they hear faint pounding coming from the RV. Rook tells Ben and Ruby, "This does not sound like a typical earth combustion weapon." Ben tells Rook as he and his three partners walk to the dune buggy, "Maybe it's a hybrid." Ruby shakes her head saying, "I doubt it. Something's inside that car." Corvo freaks out realizing what this means as he tries to tell them, "There's nothing in there, I swear!" Ben and Rook open the engine and they see a yellow container that's cracked. It cracks even more even as whirring sounds appear, until finally the container explodes as out of it comes a stream of lightning as it lands by Corvo.

Out of the steam as Crovo looks at it afraid, is…a Megawatt. This little alien grins mischievously as Ben gasps in shock as Ruby gasps in awe as she sees the cute creature. The Megawatt then jumps up as Corvo tries to run away as the Megawatt blasts at the tech backpack freeing another Megawatt as both the small aliens grin. Ben asks in shock -as Rook looks on in shock as Ruby grins at the sight of the Megawatts, "Megawatts?!"

* * *

As electricity crackles, the two Megawatts zip around in the power lines. Again, Ben says in shock and confusion, "Megawatts? I haven't seen any of these guys in years!" Ruby grins at the little Megawatts saying, "They're so cute! Can I keep one?!" The two Megawatts land on the ground, grinning at Ruby's comment, but as they turned to Corvo, they glare at him evilly as they attack and zap him with electrical blasts as Corvo complains from the pain. Rook then asks Ben as he turns his Proto-Tool to a sword, "Ruby and I have never faced a Nosedeenian. Any advice?" Immediately, one of the Megawatts attack Rook through the sword as he gets uncomfortably zapped as the Megawatt travels through his Proto-Tech armor and begins zapping him as Ben tells him, "Try not to let them zap you."

Rook tries to attack them as he keeps getting zapped, as he tells Ben, "Duly noted." Ruby then grabs her enchanted bow and turns it into a sword, ready to fight, but the Megawatts start zapping her as Ruby whimpers at the pain as she growls angrily saying, "Okay, I change my mind! They might be cute, but they're annoying and they remind me of shock collars, and I hate those!" The Megawatts then get on top of a power line as they leave. Ben, Ruby and Rook nod as all three leave to catch the Megawatts leaving Corvo alone as the teenager runs away smirking. The Megawatts zip around through the power lines of the city causing traffic problems as the three heroes try to follow them. They stop as Ben asks his partners, "Which way did they go?"

Ruby uses her powers to sense their auras and sniffs them out as she points to her left at a building saying, "Over there!" The Megawatts, mock and taunt them as they get away through the power lines as Ben tells Rook and Ruby, "I'll keep after them. Give me some eyes in the sky." Rook and Ruby nod as Ruby latches onto Rook's back as Rook activates his Proto-Tool as it becomes a grappler as they head up to a building propelling themselves to a roof as they keep an eye on the Megawatts and where their going. Ben still follows them on foot as Rook tells Ben through his Plumber badge, "They seem to be moving towards the water-port." But Ruby cannot help but wonder why they are going there. Ben then looks through his Omnitrix as he's running as he says, "They can outrun me, but they can't outrun XLR8."

The Omnitrix faceplate pops up as Ben exclaims before slamming it down, "It's Hero Time!" He turns into an alien, but again, not the one he wanted. Instead of XLR8, he turned into…Clockwork?! Clockwork is a robot-like alien with skin that is made of copper, with black stripes and a transparent piece of green hexagon glass on his chest, revealing gears inside of him. He also has holes on the protrusion on his head and on his back, he has a black stripe that splits into two stripes with a keyhole between them along with the Omnitrix symbol on his chest.

Ben/Clockwork complains at this saying in a German accent, "Clockwork! This is ridiculous!" He still chases them as he keeps on panting in exhaustion as the running is taking a lot out of him while he's clanking and ticking. The Megawatts zip around through cars and power lines until Ben/Clockwork stops, taking a break by a car. He looks up and realizes both Megawatts are uphill and very far away as they stop at the top of a power line, grinning evilly at him. Ben/Clockwork sighs in frustration as he keeps on going, wanting to find out why the Megawatts are part of this and why Corvo had them. Will Ben, Ruby and Rook find out what's going on? And who the villain of this adventure really is? We'll see…

* * *

And this is the end of A Jolt From The Past Part 1! Here are the translations to the Latin spells or spell you have seen in this chapter:

'Mitte sculptura ligni ad domum,' which means, 'Send wood sculpture back to home."

Stay tuned for the second part sometime next week!


	8. Chapter 8 A Jolt From The Past Part 2

Welcome to Chapter 8 – A Jolt From The Past Part 2! WolfWitchHuntress1318 and Thank you for taking the time to read this story. Again, I hope you like this continuation of Chapter 7, for it shows the end of the adventure, more bonding and a warning: Be prepared for ANGRY RUBY! The next chapter will come out when its good and ready.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 8: A Jolt From The Past Part 2

Ben/Clockwork continues running after the Megawatts who zip around through the power lines, but Ben/Clockwork stops, leaning on a pole to catch his breath as he says, "I lost them. They're too far ahead of-!" But then he gasps as he looks up saying, "Wait, what?!" The Megawatts appear above Ben/Clockwork on the power lines as they seem to be mocking him and leave through the power lines as Ben/Clockwork can't help but feel something's not right with the aliens. He continues running until he reaches the docks as he's at the steps and the two Megawatts land on the docks themselves as Ben/Clockwork stops, catching his breath. He then notices the Megawatts go into a warehouse. Now he knows something's not right.

The Omnitrix times out turning the alien hero back to normal as Ruby and Rook appear from the grappler as Ruby asks Ben, "Hey, you okay, Benji?" Ben tells her panting in exhaustion, "Just give me a sec, so I don't hurl." Ruby immediately backs away as Rook tells Ben, "It is a miracle they did not escape a Chronosapien." But Ben tells them, "That's the thing. I think they wanted me to follow them." Ruby has a thinking face on as she tells him, "This makes sense. They were waiting for you to catch up back there, making you have the perfect pace to follow them. If you had used XLR8, you would have lost them. If that's true, then something's going on with the Megawatts, and it can't be good." Rook then asks Ben out of concern, "Do you need more time, Ben?" Ben shakes his head telling him, "No. But if either one of you two see my face turning green, step back."

Ruby salutes to him saying jokingly, "Aye, aye captain!" Ben laughs at that comment as all three make their way down the steps as Ruby smiles, glad she cheered up Ben. Ben, Rook and Ruby sneak into the warehouse undetected and hide by a crate when suddenly Rook gasps seeing a big machine that has small yellow cases all over it and inside the cases…are Megawatts! The two little Megawatts try in vain to save the ones inside, as the ones inside look exhausted and scared! Ruby gasps a little, whimpering as she says, "Those poor little cuties!" The two freed Megawatts try to get the hero's attentions, letting them know what they need as Ben tells his partners, "I see it, but I don't believe it! The Megawatts need our help!"

Rook nods telling Ben, "Someone has set up a factory that uses them as a power source." Ruby whimpers saying in sympathy as her ears go down, "And it's hurting them." Suddenly, Rook grabs his two partners as they hide away as he sees someone on the catwalk up above. Up on the catwalk is a tan hoodlum with white Mohawk hair as he has black lines underneath his eyes with orange upper-body armor that has two empty jars on the top of the armor, silver shoes with black spikes, blue jeans with bandages, fingerless gloves, and a black ripped tank top with two red symbols. They guy, looks down noticing the two freed Megawatts as he calls out to someone, "Hey, two of the batteries got out!" He falls to the ground by leaping over the guardrail as the two Megawatts try to escape, but the hoodlum lets out an electrical blast, magnetic force field to trap them as they get absorbed in the jars, one per each.

Ruby's Loboan ears raise up as she sees what happens to the Megawatts as she whispers silently, "We got company. Only one." Ben and Rook hear her as they nod as they hear electricity crackling behind them as Ben asks his partners, "Better do something soon, if you know what I mean." Rook nods saying, "We do." Ruby nods saying with a wolf smirk, "Time to free the cuties." All three turn around as Ben does a sweep kick, Rook does a punch to the chest and Ruby fires a red super sonic howl at the hoodlum. The hoodlum hits a crate as the hoodlum has tan skin, red Mohawk hair, black lines underneath his eyes, spiked collar, blue-black jeans, a belt, a ripped tank top with two silver stars on the front, and orange upper-body armor that has two full jars of Megawatts on the top of the armor.

* * *

Suddenly, Rook, Ruby and Ben are blasted with electricity as all three are contained within a magnetic force fielding a yellow ball as the white haired-hoodlum from before captured them thanks to the two Megawatts he captured. The doors to the warehouse open revealing Corvo and the boss of this operation…Fistrick. Fistrick has an orange Mohawk with black and white paint around his face, making it look like a skull. He's muscular, wears a black sleeveless shirt also with a skull on it. He has purple tattoos all over his body and wears arm braces, leg braces, wrist bands, knee pads, orange pants, and silver shoes with black spikes on them. Fistrick walks over to a punching bag and throws away his towel as he starts punching the bag as he tells the heroes, "You better be worth interrupting my workout for."

The hoodlum with red Mohawk hair tells his boss, "Looks like spies, Fistrick. And one of them is a hot-looking wolf girl." Ruby flinches and growls with an angry glare at that, but is confused when she hears another growl that appeared. She turns to see it was Rook who growls as she looks at him wide-eyed. Fistrick then asks, "We got spies in my house of business?" Fistrick keeps punching the bag, as Ruby mutters, "Oh great. Our villain for this adventure had to be a workout nut. Ah, well. Better than Argost." Ben then tells Fistrick, keeping him busy, while Rook messes with something, "There's no sign out front. Seems like you don't want people to know your business." Fistrick turns around telling Ben, "Well, this kind of alien tech doesn't just fall of a truck."

Ruby scoffs telling Fistrick, "I'm pretty sure that whoever you took it from isn't too happy about it going missing though, Knucklehead." Fistrick, punches the punching bag as it's flung away as the man laughs evilly, as he turns around telling Ruby with a smirk, "He don't care anymore…bro." Ruby glares and growls at the man as Rook is trying very hard not to destroy his machine while this is happening as Ben tells Fistrick, "You steal alien tech and then use alien hostages to charge it." Fistrick then tells Ben as he walks toward the shield, "One alien makes it, another alien powers it. I mass-produce it and sell it to the highest bidder. It's just good business, bros." Ruby growls saying, "Yeah, good unlawful business that's hurting innocent creatures!"

Rook then holds his small device as the button glows green as Fistrick asks Rook starting to get scared, "What is that?" Rook smirks holding up the device as he says before pressing it, "An electron entanglement disruptor." Green electricity comes out as it takes down the force field, setting them free as Ben slams down the Omnitrix, turning into Bloxx. Ben/Bloxx punches the ground causing a sort of earthquake attack the bad guys as the white haired hoodlum is knocked down. Ben/Bloxx goes after Fistrick while Ruby and Rook take down some of the other bad guys. Rook makes his Proto-Tool into a sword as Ruby sneaks over to the big machine to go free the Megawatts. The captured Megawatts cheer at the thought of being freed as Ruby shushes them telling them with a smile, "Hold on, cuties. I'll get you out of here!" Rook is dodging punches from the red haired hoodlum as Ruby watches before setting them free.

Rook charges for the hoodlum and somehow in slow motion, Rook dodges a punch and slices one of the robotic arms twice from the upper body armor he has causing it to short-circuit. Ruby smiles with a lovesick sigh as she says, "Moon, I love that alien!" The Megawatts mock kiss smooches at her even in their weakened state as Ruby rolls her eyes telling the Megawatts, "Very funny, shockers. Now stay quiet while I try to save you. And if you're good, I know a place where you can provide power for some good alien citizens, and you'll never get hurt, I promise." The Megawatts look at each other as they grin and nod toward Ruby as she smiles. She then goes to move away so that she isn't in Fistrick's sight. The red haired hoodlum goes to fire a blast Rook from his other arm, but Ben/Bloxx deflects it, pulls him to himself and throws the hoodlum away. Fistrick starts to get annoyed as he tells Ben/Bloxx and Rook, "Oh, you just made a big mistake, bro!"

Ben/Bloxx turns back to normal as the Omnitrix times out as the alien hero tells Fistrick with a smirk as he notices Ruby preparing to free the Megawatts, "I make a lot of mistakes. Shutting you down isn't one of them. But you made a mistake though." Fistrick raises an eyebrow in confusion asking Ben, "Oh, and what's that, bro?" Rook smirks as well, noticing Ruby as he says, "Do not leave your prisoners unattended."

Fistrick, turns around in shock, seeing Ruby free the imprisoned Megawatts as she recites the spell as she holds her hands out in front of the machine, "Disassemble apparatus atque liberum megawatts a carcere!" Suddenly, the machine disassembles itself and the Megawatts are free as they zip around happily as they laugh and cackle evilly as two of them nuzzle Ruby as she tells them with a grin, "You're very welcome. Now tell your buddies to hide away from the baddies until I tell you to come out, okay?"

They nod and tell their buddies as they all hide away as Fistrick gets angry as he storms towards her, "YOU! You'll pay for that!" Ruby wolf smirks telling him, "With what? Cash? Credit? Butt-whooping?! Because I got plenty of that last one." Ruby leaps away from as she lands by Ben and Rook as Rook tells her, "Excellent, my friend. They are all free!" Ruby nods saying, "Thanks, but I'm afraid that wasn't all of them you guys. I sense there still several more of them that are still captured. But for now, let's take down Fistrick."

Fistrick smirks as he and Crovo run off, but the three heroes chase them as Rook fires a rope like thing at Corvo, thus trapping him as they chase after Fistrick. Suddenly, a part of the floor opens up as Fistrick hops into it and once the floor is opened properly. From steam and light, is Fistrick inside an orange alien tech exo-skeletal mecha-suit. Fistrick smirks telling the heroes, "You never asked why we needed so many of these Nosedeenians."

Part of the armor closes up as he turns around seeing six jars on the back containing one Megawatt each as the armor starts up causing the Megawatts to squeal in pain, making Ruby try to plug her ears and whimper at how much their pain is hurting her. Fistrick from within says, "Let's take this baby for a test-drive." The suit takes a step as Fistrick chuckles saying, "Looks like I'm getting my workout after all." Ben, Rook and Ruby gasp as Ruby says, "Okay, I so did not see this one coming."

* * *

Fistrick takes a few steps forward as Rook tells Ben and Ruby, "A Class 12 Armored Mecha Suit. Have you ever dealt with one before, Ben?" Ben shakes his head saying, "No. How do you beat it?" Rook tells Ben with some begging in it, "Me? You could try Alien X." Ben growls annoyed telling Rook, "Stop it." Suddenly, red dots appear on them as this can only mean one thing as Ruby yells out in fright, "Run!" Fistrick shoots missiles at them as the three heroes start running until one of them hits close enough as they are flung away as Fistrick is impressed with the power as he exclaims, "Whoa! I love it!" He then starts walking towards them to finish off the heroes. Rook then uses his Proto-Tool by using the Auto Turret feature as it shoots energy bullets at Fistrick, it works, but the Megawatts in the jars are freaking out.

Ruby was about to fire red aura blasts, but as soon as she heard their screams, she stops Rook telling him, "Rook, stop! You might hit the Megawatts!" Rook nods grimly as he tells Ruby and Ben, "If we can not fight back, that does tend to make our job more difficult." Ben nods telling them, "Oh, we can fight. We just have to take him down without hurting them." Rook nods saying, "That will not be easy."

Ben scoffs saying, "It never is." Ruby nods saying with a wolf smirk, "Yeah, but it can be fun if we want it to be." Out of the steam, is Fistrick still in the mecha suit as he walks toward them and fires laser blasts as Ben, Rook and Ruby hide by some crates as Ben looks through his Omnitrix saying to it, practically begging, "Okay, Omnitrix, no messing around. I want Four Arms. Do you hear me? Four Arms. I don't want Grey Matter, I don't want Nanomech. Just Four Arms."

He slams it down, as he suddenly turns into…a brand New Alien! Rook and Ruby gasp at the transformation as she says in awe, "By the Moon, another new alien!" This new alien form of Ben's is a large, bulky, reddish-brown alien with rocky skin, a giant mouth and a molten lava planet core at the center of his body. He has tan feet with three toes each, three fingers and one thumb for each hand, black shorts with green stripes and a green belt with white stripes and the Omnitrix symbol on his forehead.

Ben/New Alien asks in shock, "Who's this?!" Ruby shrugs with a grin saying, "I don't know, but I like it!" Fistrick then tells Ben/New Alien, not impressed, "You can presto-chango all you want, I'm still gonna squash you like a bug!" With two punches from Fistrick, Ben/New Alien is flung out of the warehouse. He gets up but is still punched away by Fistrick and is hit. Suddenly, Ben/New Alien raises his hand and holds it out as it glows a white/silver/blue color flinging Fistrick away the enemy suddenly floats as Rook and Ruby come and watches this. Ben/New Alien then says in shock and awe, "Gravity powers? Nice!" Ruby gasps telling Ben with a grin, "Ben, I know the perfect name for your new alien! Gravattack! Because you have gravity powers!"

Ben/Gravattack grins saying, "I like that name! Nice one!" Ben/Gravattack then uses his powers to small him down into the ground. Fistrick tries to get up but can't as Rook and Ruby quickly get on Fistrick to start freeing the Megawatts. They try to pull off the jars, but Ben/Gravattack gets excited and pumps his glowing fist in the air exclaiming, "Yeah, Rook and Ruby!" Suddenly, Fistrick is high in the air once again as Rook and Ruby struggle to hang on as Ruby exclaims to the alien hero as her red eyes glow angrily, "Dude! Lower this thing down right now or I will tear you apart!" Ben/Gravattack chuckles nervously saying as he lowers his glowing hand, "Sorry, guys!"

Fistrick crashes down when suddenly, one Megawatt jar pops off as Rook and Ruby grin. Suddenly, from one of the arms is a blasting weapon as Ruby says in fear, "Oh, crud!" But just before the weapon blasted, Rook pushes Ruby out of the way exclaiming, "Look out!" And just like that, Rook was blasted into one of the bigger crates as Ruby shouts in fear and shock, "Rookie!" Ben/Gravattack hears her scream and screams in fear as well, "Rook! You okay?" Both teenagers run over to Rook to check on him. Rook's landing made a big dent in the crate as Ruby quickly looks him over. Ruby is shaking in fear and anger seeing her imprintee down and out cold. Fistrick grabs Ben/Gravattack and throws him away as the alien hero makes a crater from the landing.

Ruby gently cups Rook's face in her hands as she looks him over and asks her fallen secret love in fear, "Rookie? Are you okay? Please say something." Rook opens his eyes slightly looking at Ruby as he groans in pain and falls unconscious again as Ruby bares her fangs and growls furiously as her eyes glow red showing no pupils, her fur stands on end as she slightly turns toward Fistrick glaring coldly and hatefully at him. As this happens, Fistrick punches Ben/Gravattack to the ground as he says with each punch, "You…want…some…more…bro?!" Ben/Gravattack groans saying, "Not really!" Fistrick then tells him, "Too bad about your friend. Too bad for you that he got off easy." Suddenly, a feral growl stops him from delivering a punch as he turns around to see Ruby still over to where Rook was as an angry red aura covers her from head to toe as she glares at the villain hatefully and angrily.

Ruby says in a somewhat demonic voice as her voice drops a few octaves, "YOU LOWEST OF THE LOW! YOU HAVE MADE THE BEAST WITHIN ME SO ANGRY, THERE IS NO NAME! YOU DARE TOUCH MY IMPRINTEE?! YOU DARE TOUCH MY FUTURE MATE?! YOU DARE HARM THE ONE THAT I HOLD SO DEEPLY IN MY HEART?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW THAT MAKES ME FEEL?! FOR THAT, YOU SHALL PAY!" Ruby screech/howls in rage and snarls as she charges for Fistrick and fires several red aura blasts, each fueled with deep hatred and anger for what Fistrick had done to Rook.

Fistrick stumbles, shocked, surprised and scared of Ruby and the power she possesses as she snarls as she then fires an enraged red supersonic howl that sends him flying a few feet and crashing to the ground. The angered Ruby walks away, wanting to get back to her mate to help him, but did not notice something happening behind her. Suddenly, a voice calls out, "Ruby, watch out!" Ruby ducks as suddenly, a hook from a crane hits Fistrick knocking him away and into the warehouse.

* * *

Ruby turns toward where the crane came from and somehow through the red she's seeing, Rook was at the controls, alright and well as Ruby's eyes widened as the red glow disappears from them as her pupils come back and her eyes return to normal, her fur goes back to normal too, and the furious red aura disappears. Ruby smiles as tears start to come out, beyond happy Rook is okay as he smiles telling Ruby, "You're welcome." Ruby starts to cry as she then turns to Ben/Gravattack and tells him seriously through her tears and small sobs, "You say one word to Rook about what I just said in my angry beast state, and I will kill you! GOT IT?!" Ben/Gravattack nods scared saying, "Absolutely, not a word! Man, you are seriously the scariest girl I've ever met." Ruby suddenly grins despite the tears in her eyes and says, "I know."

Fistrick suddenly hops out of the warehouse, as he says, "Weak." Rook quickly calls out to Ben, "Ben, I think Ruby and I can separate the Megawatts from the suit, but it will be a difficult shot even for the both of us. Try to get the suit to stop moving." Rook turns his Proto-Tool into a custom bow as Ruby quickly runs up to Rook and hugs him tightly saying, "I'm so glad you're okay!" Rook blinks in confusion about this, but smiles, remembering what she meant as he rubs her back telling her, "Yes, I am my friend. You do not need to worry. Come on, it is time to put an end to this."

Ruby nods as she and Rook start climbing up the crane as Ben/Gravattack then says to Rook sarcastically, "Yeah, thanks Rook. I'll get right on that!" And then quickly gets to work as he holds up both hands glowing as Fistrick is lifted to the air and throws him to the ground. Fistrick tries to stand up, as he asks the alien hero, still not impressed, "Got anything else, hero, or are you just a one-trick pony?" Ben/Gravattack tells him shrugging his shoulders, "Hey, it's my first time using this guy. Now, you might be able to withstand 40Gs."

Suddenly, the docks below him start to crumble and become undone as Ben/Gravattack tells Fistrick with a smirk, "But I don't think the docks can. What do you think?" The docks below Fistrick completely break apart as he falls into the water, then is raised up, dropped back into the water, raised up again, then down again as Ben/Gravattack says, "This is like one of those dunk tanks! Are you having as much fun as I am?" Ruby laughs from the crane hearing that comment saying, "I know I am." Fistrick groans inside his suit as the alien hero tells Rook, "I got it to stop moving." Rook is on the crane hook and Ruby's on the very top of the crane just above him.

Both Rook and Ruby look at each other and nod before they both take a deep breath in and lets it out as they both prepare to fire with their bows with two arrows each and aim for the spine and fires. Both the energy and magical aura arrows land on target causing the suit to short-circuit and also causing the remaining five jars to pop out. Ruby sighs looking down at Rook with a lovesick look on her face while thinking, 'Again…Moon, I love that alien! He really knows how to use a bow, and looks really hot doing it too.'

The jars break as they land freeing the Megawatts as Ruby leaps off the top of the crane and lands gracefully on the ground and is able to get the Megawatts back with the others in the warehouse by telling them to wait with their buddies. The Megawatts leave to get to them as Ben/Gravattack stops his powers as the alien hero tells Rook and Ruby, "Nice shots!" The Mecha Suit falls to the ground as within, Fistrick is annoyed as a voice from the Suit says, "Power level critical. 12% remaining." Fistrick smirks as he presses some button as he says, "Just enough." This causes missiles from the suit to fire at Ben/Gravattack. The alien hero quickly uses his gravity powers to spin the missiles as he realizes he has his own orbit, thus he's like a living planet! The alien hero grins saying, "I have my own orbit? That is pretty cool! I wonder…" Ruby smirks saying, "Man, do I wish Zak was here seeing this. He'd be so jealous right now!"

Fistrick freaks out inside the suit as Ben/Gravattack rolls himself into a ball, making himself into a planet as the missiles spin in orbit as suddenly the Mecha Suit is pulled in spinning Fistrick around and around and around. Then Fistrick is flung onto a crate along with missiles redirected at the enemy as they explode. After its done, Fistrick climbs out of the suit and weakly says, "Bro." Ruby and Rook come up to the alien hero as Ruby says, "I think the dude's had enough now." Ben/Gravattack turns back to normal as Rook says, "That was not easy." Ben smirks saying from an earlier conversation, "It never is." Then Ruby smirks saying, "But it can be fun."

Rook then asks with a questioning look, "Ruby, did you say something while I was knocked out? I woke up as soon as you attacked Fistrick. I know I heard you speak, but I was still pretty out of it and you sounded kind of muffled, so I could not completely make out what you said." Ruby blushes, telling Rook as she stutters, "U-uh…It was nothing! I was just mad at what Fistrick did to you and told him he was going to pay for hurting my friend. That's all, nothing more." Rook looks at her unsure but then shrugs as he proceeds to call the Plumbers as Ben smugly smirks in Ruby's direction as she tells the hero with a sigh, "I know you want answers Ben, but later, okay? Preferably when we're alone and when the time is right, okay?" Ben nods in understanding telling her, "Okay, okay. I understand. Now, what are we going to do with the Megawatts?" Ruby then tells him with a smirk, "Don't worry, I've already figured that out."

* * *

The Plumbers were called in as they took away Fistrick and his minions as Rook brings the Proto-TRUK to their location by the controls on his glove. Fistrick glares in their direction as Ruby snarls angrily baring her fangs as her eyes glaring and furiously glowing red as Fistrick gets scared and turns away as Ruby smirks and her eyes are back to their normal red and turns back to her human form as she says, "I think I really scared him something good. I'm so going to enjoy scaring him more in the future."

Ruby then looks with a cold glare with a faint angry red glowing in her eyes in Fistricks direction as she then thinks to herself, "But if he ever hurts my Rookie again or even tries to, he's going to be so much more than just scared when I'm through with him." Ruby then laughs a little evilly with a slight growl in her laugh as Grandpa Max comes over and tells them, "I hear there's a colony of Megawatts that helps power Undertown." Ben asks in confusion, "Since when?" Ruby smirks saying, "Since now. I told the Megawatts that if they were good, I'd take them somewhere they could provide power and not get hurt. That's where they'll be going."

A container full of Megawatts as they cheer and cackle happily as a few more get in as they nod happily thanking their heroes as Ben tells them, "Anytime, guys." Ruby smiles telling them, "Your welcome, cuties. Hope you have fun! But stay out of trouble!" The Megawatts nod and cackle happily as Rook then asks Ben, "The Tennyson legends usually end with some kind of blended beverage." Ben smiles telling him and Ruby, "You mean smoothies? Oh, they're more of a daytime thing. At night, its chili fries." Ben walks toward the Proto-TRUK as Rook sighs sadly saying, "Okay." Ruby pats his shoulder telling him with a smile, "Don't worry, Rookie. I'll get you a smoothie later." Rook smiles telling Ruby, "Thank you, my friend. I am glad to have you with me." Ruby smiles as she then tells him, "Me too." With that, Ruby and Rook get in the Proto-TRUK. Just as it flies off, Ben tells Rook, "And, by the way, Alien X is real, Rook."

But then Rook asks Ben, "So why can not we see it?" Ben sighs annoyed as he tells Rook, "Dude, there are some things you're just gonna have to trust me on." Ruby nods telling Rook, "Yeah, if he says its real, then its real Rookie." The conversation was dropped as they got to the restaurant as Ben got chili fries, but Rook and Ruby didn't like them so much. So Ruby got herself a cheeseburger and Rook a green salad and also got them both Apple Pie Cinnamon smoothies.

After eating Ruby said goodbye to Ben and Rook and teleported home thanks to her spells and told her mother of her adventure. Her mother was impressed, but became nervous when Ruby told her about becoming angry and sort of beast-like and demonic when Rook got hurt. Scarlet told Ruby the reason why that happened, is because when the imprinter sees their imprintee hurt, it causes the imprinter to become intensely strong and makes them furious and angry. It's perfectly normal, so Ruby stops worrying about it and decided to try and learn to control her anger better.

Ruby thus went to bed happy, snuggling up to her stuffed Red Riding Wolf dreaming of her and Rook. What new adventure will happen? Will we see a new adventure with Ben, Ruby and Rook? Or will this new adventure involve a memory from Ruby's and Rook's time in Plumber Academy? Stay tuned to find out…

* * *

And that is the end of this chapter! This was fun and a little hard to do. Hope you liked seeing Ruby letting her anger out. Here are the translations to the Latin spells or spell you have seen in this chapter:

'disassemble apparatus atque liberum megawatts a carcere,' means 'Disassemble machine and free Megawatts from this prison .'

Stay tuned sometime next week to find out what happens next! It all depends on my schedule and my partner's. Have a good day!


	9. Chapter 9 Ruby's Secret Is Out

Welcome to a fun new chapter for you all to like, love and enjoy! I AM SO SORRY I COULDN'T GET THIS UP SOONER! My friend and I were busy with life, family and working on this chapter. Again, I'm so sorry! And now the newest chapter will now begin! Now this chapter is very special. Why? Because we now have a break chapter! You see, there are some adventures of Omniverse where Rook does not appear at all. So for that, I will make break chapters involving Ruby and her moments with Rook and Scout during their Plumber Academy days and maybe chapters that involve holidays, late or not

This new chapter includes Rook, Ruby and Scout during Plumber Academy where Ruby's two friends find out just what exactly Ruby really is. How will they react? Read to find out! WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I hope that you like this chapter! Please review if you wish!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 9: Ruby's Secret Is Out

2 Years and 7 Months Before Omniverse Begins

It has been about four months since Ruby met Rook and Scout. During these four months, the three friends befriended each other more through their classes, lunch, training exercises and stories of her adventures with the Secret Saturdays. But also during this time, Ruby bonded with Rook as she decided to learn about Rook's planet and home life. She never expected Rook to be from a farming planet, or the fact that Rook went through some bad family problems. But Ruby assured him that she was glad he decided to do something for himself and found herself growing more and more drawn and in love with him as time went on.

Rook had smiled and was thankful that he had Ruby for a friend but also couldn't help but feel more drawn to her as well as time passed and he didn't understand why he felt this way towards her, but he couldn't help but admit to himself that he couldn't remember the last time he had ever been as happy as he was whenever he was with her. Ruby had also bonded with Scout as well, as she wanted to learn everything about Anur Transyl and its neighboring moon, Luna Lobo. Scout was confused as to why she wanted to know so much, but he answered every question she had.

Ruby loved learning everything about her father's home world, but she had not asked Scout about her father, because she was worried of how Scout and Rook would react. From what Scout has told her, fleshy beings are the aliens and monsters to his planet. So the people of his world would be afraid of them. But not Scout, he was actually more compassionate and open-minded which made Ruby thankful that he was different. If Scout found out that Ruby was half-Loboan, she'd be afraid of how he'd react. So that's why she has kept her father and her family's heritage a secret from her friends. But she hopes to tell them when the time is right. Most importantly, she hopes she won't have to tell and explain to Rook about her being imprinted to him just yet. She was worried of him finding out that her entire life practically and literally belonged to him.

Rook was so happy to be friends with Ruby these four months. Rook found that he could naturally be himself around her all the time. He's always serious about everything and very smart about alien technology, but not so much on Earth customs. Luckily, when Ruby's around, he suddenly drops his seriousness and smiles when she's around and sometimes blushed around her too, but still always enjoyed her company along with Scout's. For these four months, he has also gotten very overprotective of her and sticks to her side a lot of the time. He cannot help but figure out why.

It's as if he was pulled to her as if by fate. But he doesn't think that it's really a bad thing, even though he has a feeling Ruby is hiding things from him and Scout. Fortunately, he would never push her to reveal things she's not ready to reveal. He had also found himself thinking about Ruby and often sometimes went into a daze whenever he thought about her, He didn't know what was happening to him, everything that he was feeling and everything that happened to him was just something that came over him whenever Ruby was around or whenever he thought of her. It was something he just couldn't explain.

Scout on the other hand, might or would try to get some answers from her if she really was hiding something from them. Scout has bonded with Rook and Ruby a lot, when given the chance. Scout loved telling Ruby about his homeworld and the moons that orbit his planet. He was surprised she wanted to learn so much, but he answered her every question and loved seeing her smile at the answers. But during these four months, he cannot help but still feel suspicious of her. He always smelled the scent of Loboans on her and wolves as she explained the animal to him weeks ago.

You'd think that after being away from a forest that had wolves living in it for four whole months in a space station far from any wolf-like creature (other than himself of course), the scent would be completely gone, but he could still smell the scent of Loboans all over her and it was still just as strong as when they first met, and can't help but think on why that is. But he still likes Ruby well enough that he enjoys her company. Not only that, but he can't help but feel that something is different about Rook as well.

All the other alien and human students in the Academy saw their friendship blossom as they believe all three would make an excellent team. In fact, some of these students befriended Ruby as well, even though some questioned her clothing since she never wore the Plumber uniform and always wore her red cloak. In fact, she was even picked on a few times for her cloak, but Rook and Scout defended her every time. Heck, even during these four months, they even did a prank or two thanks to her knowledge of Earth pranks. And Ruby has been practicing her magic spells in secret.

All in all, things have been okay and going smoothly in Plumber Academy during these four months. That is, until today…

* * *

It's a normal day in the Plumber Academy as students had just got out of their latest class as everyone goes to the cafeteria to get their lunch. Everyone gets in line to get their food as a certain trio is talking about their latest assignment called Family History. You see, the assignment is where every student talks about their families along with info about the planets of which the students live on for their Planet History Class. It's a strange class to have in the Plumber Academy, but the class is required to take. Rook and Scout were happy, but not Ruby. It meant revealing her family past and heritage along with what she really is. But she knew she couldn't keep on hiding it forever.

Lunch time begins as alien Plumber students got alien food, human students got human food and if they were daring, they tried the alien food. So Rook and Scout got alien food while Ruby got to have double cheeseburger and French Fries. Ruby is wearing her usual outfit including her cloak in its traditional form. As Scout eats, he asks Ruby and Rook, "Family History. What a strange class to have at an Academy where we become intergalactic police officers."

Ruby shrugs saying as she eats a bite out of her burger, "Maybe the reason why is so that we learn more about each other, whether it be from our families or from whatever planets we come from. But I've already learned about you two, and you two know about each other already." Rook suddenly looks interested as he grins a little saying, "That is true. You know about us, Ruby. But we do not know all about you other than your adventures with the Saturday family. This time, we get to learn about your real family and learn more about yourself."

Ruby frowns a little saying, "Yeah, I guess you do. But I'm a little worried about telling people of myself. It feels like people are trying to force the info right out of me." Scout tells her with a frown, "Why is that? You've never told us anything about yourself, except your mother is on Earth while your dad is missing and you live in a forest, and like Rook just mentioned your time and adventures with the Saturday family, and even in those stories you tend to leave some details out, mostly about what you did. It's like you're trying to hide something, Rubes."

Ruby flinches a little at that as Rook scolds Scout, not happy that Ruby is feeling bad about being secretive about herself and her family, "Scout, that is not nice. If Ruby wishes to not talk about her family or herself to us, it is perfectly fine. She can tells us when she wants to. Even though, she may have to for the class." Ruby looks between her two friends, and she can't stand seeing two friends fight. After all, it's the same for her with her best friend Zak and his cryptid family members.

Ruby really does want to tell her two friends just exactly who and what she is. But will they accept her? That was the only problem she was worried about. So with reluctance and a sigh, she hesitantly tells her two friends, "You two... Really want to know more about me and my family?" Rook and Scout look at her confused as they slowly nod as Ruby sighs once more telling them, "Fine, I'll tell you. But not at the class which we have to do this on. I don't want you two to wait that long. So I'll tell you two tonight. Meet me in my room tonight at eight like for our usual sleepovers when we don't have any classes. And I'll tell you two everything then. It'll be better if I tell you two first before the project for our class anyway. So I'll answer any questions you two have, so worries can be wiped away. Deal?"

Rook and Scout look at each other confused, as they couldn't believe she'd tell this easily, as they turn toward her and smile as they tell her together, "Deal!" Ruby smiles happily at this, but inside, she frowns a little, worried of what will happen. But she's already made her decision and she's not backing out of this. After all, they deserve to know the truth, especially Scout. Who knows? Maybe Scout knew something about her father and probably saw him somewhere when he disappeared. Lunch time ended as classes began once again as Ruby prepares herself for what she tells her two friends. Luckily, she has more time because when the last class ended, thanks to a certain pair of brothers aka the Vreedle brothers, they did a prank causing class to be canceled for the next few days.

* * *

It is now 7:30 PM as classes have been over for a couple of hours and students are resting in their rooms before curfew which is at 11:00 PM. Ruby is in her room wearing her pajamas after just taking a shower as she turns into her Loboan form. Ruby's brushing her long brown-almost black mane with dark red and moonlight white streaks as she's wearing a black t-shirt that has a wolf howling to the moon and black lounge shorts. As Ruby brushes her mane, she hums a song imagining her and Rook together as she smiles in bliss. As she does this, she is still thinking on what will happen when she reveals what she really is. But she has to if she wants to keep her friendship with them.

Ruby sighs as she takes a look at the things she brought with her, including her Red Riding Hood story book of her parents. Ruby whispers to no one as she says, "Mom, Dad, if you can hear me somehow, please give me the strength I need to tell my friends the truth about myself. I don't want to hide anymore. I want to be my true self, not my shy self. Please help me." Ruby continues to brush her mane as she closes off from everything around her. So much in fact, she didn't even hear Rook and Scout coming to her room.

Rook and Scout are walking in the hallway, heading to Ruby's room as Scout asks Rook, "Hey, Rook? I'm sorry about being so suspicious of Rubes. I just can't help but feel that something's off about her. She has the exact same scent of my people, for howling out loud! Something's just...different." Rook nods saying, "I understand my friend. I too have become just only a little suspicious about her, but only because she does not say a thing about her family. I too wish to know more about her life. I believe it is perfectly natural. But when she does tell us, we can not be mad at her. There has to be a reason why she did not tell us anything. Maybe she was worried of how we would react to the truth."

Scout thinks on this as he then says, "You might be right, Rook. It's not that I'm mad at Ruby for hiding things. But I can't help but be curious about her. She has the same scent of my kind, she really wants to learn about Anur Transyl and Luna Lobo, and there's this strange feeling about her I just can't shake off. Maybe it's nothing and I'm just being paranoid. You know what? I won't be so suspicious of her anymore. Ruby has been a very nice person to us since we first met her. As long as she's not a bad person, I won't worry anymore." Rook nods as they both finally get to her door as Rook prepares to knock…

Ruby continues to brush her mane as her senses are closed off from the world. Suddenly, knocks are heard as Ruby snaps awake as she gasps standing up too fast, as she suddenly falls onto the table in front of her as she yelps in shock as she then falls to the floor as a vase filled with red roses and blue forget-me-nots falls to the floor causing a crash as it hits her head and causes the flowers and water in it to spill out over her.

* * *

Outside of the room, Rook and Scout hear the yelp and crash inside as they both panic of what could have happened as they both kick the door open. Luckily, the door didn't fall off as they run in as Rook exclaims, "Ruby?! Are you alright?!" Scout sniffs around, as he sees a door that's open a little as he tells Rook, "Rook, she's in here!" Scout opens the door to Ruby's bedroom and what he sees on the floor shocks him to his very core as his eyes go wide in shock and confusion as he gulps nervously saying, "Now the scent and the wanting to know about my homeworld makes sense now."

Rook walks in to see what made Scout freeze up as Rook sees why as he looks at Ruby shocked as he murmurs, "Bralla Da…" Both friends see Ruby in her pajamas and soaking wet as she is still in her Loboan form as the flower vase that hit her in the head is in pieces as the flowers from it laid discarded around her with some of them in her mane. Scout whispers in shock, "She's... A Loboan…Like me!..."

Ruby whimpers a little as she opens her eyes painfully as both boys gasp at the red color of her eyes. Ruby looks up weakly as she still whimpers and notices her two friends looking at her in shock as she whispers painfully, "Help…me…" Ruby falls into unconsciousness as her eyes close as her world turns black.

* * *

As soon as Ruby fall unconscious and whispered her plea, Rook and Scout snap out of it as Rook quickly tells Scout, "Scout, go find the First Aid kit and some towels! I think the kit is in her closet and the towels are in her bathroom." Scout nods as he looks through her closet and finds the white box with a red cross, then goes into the bathroom and grabs a couple of towels, and then brings them all over to Rook as Rook quickly got to work on treating Ruby's head, drying her and getting the pieces of the vase and the flowers off her head. Scout looks at Ruby while Rook is treating her as Scout can't help but grin a little saying, "Now it all makes sense. The scent of a Loboan on her, her wanting to know about my homeworld…I should have known." Rook laughs a little as he tries very hard not to shake as he is getting very worried about Ruby.

Scout then frowns a little saying, "But why didn't she say anything? We both could've understood. I know I would." As Rook checked for swelling – there wasn't much thankfully – he starts to bandage her head carefully saying, "Maybe it was because she was worried. Remember? The people on your world would see Ruby as an outsider and a monster if she was completely human. She was worried we would think of her as a monster if we knew she was half-alien."

Scout's eyes go wide as he looks down in shame as he tells Rook, "You're right. I can't believe I was this stupid to accuse her of what she was! As soon as she wakes up, I'll apologize to her and we can get the full story then. Good thing classes were canceled for a few days thanks to the Vreedle Brothers." Both boys groan at that as Rook finished bandaging Ruby's head as Rook quickly but carefully picks up and carries her bridal-style and then gently places her in the bed and pull the covers up. They stay by Ruby's side, waiting for her to wake up.

* * *

Unfortunately, it would take longer for them. Scout fell asleep after a few hours, but Rook was still awake. He kept watch over Ruby just in case she woke up. As he remained awake, he kept thinking about Ruby. He started to think about what she really is: A half-alien. He never thought this was possible. But looking at Ruby, still as a Loboan, he sees the proof. She's different from everyone else. But that doesn't mean he doesn't like her any less. So what if she's a Loboan? She's still Ruby. Rook places his hand on her left cheek and strokes it as Ruby growls in pleasure as she leans against it. Rook looks shocked, but he then smiles as he quietly whispers, "Why must you be so complicated, Ruby?"

As Rook looks at Ruby's sleeping form, he gets a faraway look in his eyes and without realizing what he's doing, he slowly starts leaning forward towards her with his eyes slowly closed. When he finally reaches her and before he even realizes what he's doing, he places a small, but sweet and tender kiss right on the corner of Ruby's lips. He stays in that position for a few seconds longer, but finally ends it as he slowly opens his eyes and looks at Ruby's peaceful sleeping face. Then realization finally hits him like a ton of bricks as his eyes widen in shock and quickly pulls away from Ruby with his hand covering his lips as he stares at Ruby still in shock.

He couldn't believe that he actually did that, and tried to figure out what had possessed him to do it in the first place while trying not to freak out. But as he tries to figure it out, his eyes linger back to Ruby and as looks at her, he realizes that while he didn't know why he kissed her, he'd be lying if he said...He didn't like it. As that thought entered his head, he couldn't help the warm blush that started appearing on his cheeks, nor could he stop his heart from beating so hard and so loudly that he could hear it in his ears. He tries to calm down in case somehow Ruby and Scout heard him.

He's able to do so, but now he doesn't know what to do. Should he tell Ruby about what he did or should he keep it a secret? When he kissed her, he felt a warm spark within him. He never felt this way with anyone before, not even with his ex-girlfriend, Rayona! Rook thinks on this for a while until he decides not to tell Ruby about the kiss and keeps it to himself. Rook looks at Ruby's mane, wanting to touch it, but suddenly, he finds a forget-me-not flower in the mane from when the flower vase fell on her. Rook thinks on this as he tells himself, 'That is weird. I thought I got all of them off of her when I fixed her up.' He carefully removes it from her mane without waking her up and looks at it.

As he looks at it, he thinks back on to when he first saw the flowers that Ruby had and asked her about them. Ruby explained about them as she also told him about the 'Language of Flowers'. He was confused and curious as to why there was such a thing and Ruby said that it was because flowers also have a meaning and something to say, too. He didn't really understand what she meant by that as for all he knew, flowers didn't talk nor did they have any meaning other than looking and smelling pretty…Although he had a feeling that wasn't what she meant. He instead asked her what the flowers she had mean.

But instead of answering his question, she just had a blush and a small smile on her face and told him that it was a secret and promised that one day she would tell him. Rook stares at the small blue flower in his hand and can't help but wonder what this flower means. He then remembers that Ruby had called this flower a 'Forget-me-not'. Rook thought that was a rather unusual name for a flower and asked Ruby why it was called that and she told him the story behind the flowers' name. Rook thought it was a very sad and tragic story and then asked her why she liked having a flower with a tragic origin. She told him that the reason why she liked them, just like their meaning, was a secret and her face was very red when she told him this. Back then, Rook became worried that she was starting to get a fever with all the blushing but she told him that she was fine.

Looking at the flower some more and then looking at Ruby's sleeping form, he decides to keep the flower as a reminder of Ruby and also as a reminder to find out why she likes this flower so much. Rook quickly puts the flower in one of his pockets making sure it doesn't get squished as he then leans back on his chair and with a yawn. He starts to fall asleep in his chair, thinking about the kiss he had with her over and over again, until he falls asleep completely and begins to dream of him and Ruby together.

So both boys and the unconscious half-loboan were knocked out and sleeping until 9 AM. A pair of eyes open up in the darkness of the room as Ruby was the one to do so. She wakes up fully from the covers as she starts to sit up, but doing so, gives her a small pain in the head as she groans holding her head in pain as she mutters to herself, "Oh, my head! What in the moon happened last night?" Suddenly, memories come gushing out from last night as she remembered falling, the vase falling, and Rook and Scout standing over her.

Ruby gasps a little as she whimpers saying, "Darn it! I forgot about the guys! I hope they aren't too mad at me." Ruby then finally senses two presences in her room as she looks to both sides gasping a little: Rook and Scout were snoozing and dozing off in their chairs as their chests go up and down. Ruby looks at them shocked saying, "Why are they here?" Ruby is confused as to why they're here as Ruby looks around her room as she sees the First Aid box and the towels, then feels the bandages on her head and her slightly damp fur as Ruby gasps realizing what happened: They stayed here and took care of her! Ruby smiles a little as her eyes start to tear up as she says quietly to herself, "Maybe they do like me after all, half-alien and all." Ruby leans over to Scout and kisses his head and kisses Rook on the cheek.

Ruby sighs blissfully saying, "I love these boys!" Ruby then makes a move to get out of the bed and once she's free, she has an evil idea. She sometimes did this to Zak Saturday and his cryptid family members, as she hopes it does the same to her two friends. So she takes a deep breath and yells military-style at the very top of her lungs, "WAKE UP, YOU FILTHY MAGGOTS!" Rook and Scout open their eyes suddenly and stumbled a little freaked out at the sudden wake-up call as they stand up quickly at attention and do a salute as they both exclaim, "Sir, yes, sir!"

Ruby laughs at their reactions as she tries to keep standing as Rook and Scout look at Ruby confused and a little angry. But the sight of her smiling and laughing, causes them to not be so angry at her as they can't help but laugh as well. Once they all calmed down, Scout tells Ruby, "You are the scariest female I've ever met, Rubes."

Ruby laughs telling him, "Thanks for the compliment, wolfie! I'm honored to be called the scariest. Just don't make me mad enough to see my beast side, and you'll really regret it!" All three laugh again for a few minutes, until all three finally calm down as an uncomfortable and awkward silence sets in. After a minute, Ruby sighs reluctantly as she then tells them, "Seeing as how you guys saw me in my Loboan form last night, and the fact that I'm still in my Loboan form, I can assume you want answers, correct?"

Both boys nod as Ruby then tells them, "I'll answer anything you have. But first, how about I make some breakfast? It might be better if we talk about this on a full stomach." Both boys nod as Rook tells Ruby, "Good idea, Ruby. It would be better if we got some nourishment in us before anything else. I am particularly hungry for those pancakes you introduced me to."

Scout licks his lips saying, "Yeah, and I'm hungry for bacon and eggs. Oh, and apple cider!" Rook agrees with the drink as both boys leave the bedroom as Ruby walks out in her pajamas, smiling as she heads to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for her two favorite boys.

* * *

Before Ruby started to make breakfast, she quickly grabs her spellbook that was on a table near the kitchen as she takes off the bandages and turns back to human form. Rook and Scout look at all this curiously as Ruby then recites a spell from her spellbook, "Sana caput iniuriam." The swelling on her head disappears as her injury is completely healed. Both boys see this in shock as their jaws are hanging low. Ruby smiles saying, "Not only am I half Loboan, but I also have magical powers thanks to my mother's side of the family." Scout smirks saying, "Heh. Not bad, Rubes. Not bad at all." Ruby smirks as she then makes breakfast for her and the two boys. After some time, pancakes, fresh fruit and a glass of apple cider was made for Rook; Bacon, eggs and a glass of apple cider was made for Scout; Apple Cinnamon pancakes, strawberries and apple cider was for Ruby.

Everyone eats their breakfast peacefully as Scout then asks the first question of wanting to know Ruby, "Alright, first questions. How are you half-Loboan? You said your mother is a human with powers. So would that make your father a Loboan?" Ruby nods telling Scout with a grim smile as her Loboan ears and tail appear, "Yes. My father is a Loboan. He and my mother got married, and I was born. That allows me to turn between Loboan and human forms at any time I wish, although my Loboan ears and tail appear at certain times.

You might know him, Scout. He used to live on Anur Transyl." Scout looked shocked of the ears and tail appearing, but then frowns as he tries to think as he asks her, "Maybe, I would have been pretty young at the time though. What was his name?" So Ruby answers with a smile, "Darius, Darius Wolfblood. When he and my mother got married, he decided to take on my mother's name, as he would now be called Darius Bloodmoon. He has sleek black fur with a long flowing mane and has four claws on each hand and two claws on each foot, a bushy sleek black tail and blood red eyes."

Scout crosses his arms and tries to think about it, and once he was done he tells her, "The name and description sounds familiar, but I've never seen him and I don't know anything else about him, I'm sorry." Ruby looks down, upset that she hasn't learned anything else about him. Scout looks at her and can't help but feel bad. She wanted to know more about her father. Scout smiles as he then tells Ruby, "But I'm sure he was a good Loboan, though. After all, fellow Loboans stick together through thick and thin." Ruby smiles at that, glad for the cheering up. As Rook eats his pancakes, he then asks Ruby, "Ruby, I have been wanting to ask you this for awhile but I did not want to seem rude, but I would like to ask you this. Why do you wear that red cloak, along with your clothes? They are not what students are wearing in the Academy along with me and Scout."

Ruby smiles as she eats a strawberry saying, "I don't mind you asking me that Rookie. And to answer your question, my cloak is a part of a family treasure chest full of magical items. It's a part of my mother's family's tradition. You see, every girl that is born in my mother's family, is given a name that means red or is related to the color red. Which is why my name is Ruby. The treasure chest is passed down from mother to daughter. The daughter receives it at the age of thirteen and everything inside it goes to her. Thus, the girl is named a Red Riding Hood Sorceress. That title actually relates to a fairy tale story of old called Little Red Riding Hood." So Ruby tells the two boys of the original fairy tale story. Both boys were shocked especially at the ending. Scout shudders saying, "I'm glad that wolf wasn't me." Rook nods saying, "But at least the girl learned her lesson."

Ruby nods as everyone finishes their breakfast as Ruby quickly takes all the dishes and glasses to the sink. Ruby then grabs all of the items that was in her treasure chest she got from her mother as she explained all of the items. Ruby puts on her cloak as she tells them, "The cloak is magical in itself. It can magically change into any shade of red, be made from any fabric, be institched with any kinds of designs, be shortened and grow to any length, and can take on any style of outerwear tops while still maintaining the hood part." Ruby focuses on the cloak in her mind as it turns into a maroon leather hooded jacket with a loboan appliqué on the back. Rook and Scout look at the jacket in awe as Rook says wistfully, "Is it possible to get one for me?"

Ruby shrugs her shoulders telling him, "Dunno. I only know that they only exist in my mother's family. We might be the only ones ever who have them." Rook groans disappointed at that as Scout laughs a little. The jacket returns back to normal as Ruby then holds up a beautifully handcrafted flute made out of mahogany wood with a leather string tied around the mouth piece with feathers tied on each end as Ruby plays a little song on it while looking into Scout's eyes.

Suddenly Scout's eyes are all blurry as he suddenly dances around like a ballet dancer. Rook tries to hold back his laughter but fails as he bursts out laughing, Ruby loves the sound of his laughter and stops playing as she laughs as well. Scout is back to normal as he shakes himself off and asks, "Wh-what just happened?"

Rook explains to Scout about what happened as he tries to hold back his laughter as Scout blushes as his ears go down as he angrily tells Ruby, "How the heck did you do that?!" Ruby laughs saying, "It was the flute. It's a magical item that has the ability to calm down any animal, cryptid, person, and alien. Part of my mother's magical powers involves singing like a siren. So that's why my howling, singing and playing certain instruments is from my mother's powers. Sorry, Scout, but I didn't want Rook to go through that." Scout looks confused at that saying, "Uh, that's fine, I guess." Scout is now really confused. Why is Ruby treating Rook like this? 'I wonder…' Scout has a funny feeling about all of this.

The Ruby shows the diary as she then tells the boys, "This is my magical diary which has unlimited pages and the lock on the front can only be unlocked by me. It looks like a normal diary that looks like it has a couple dozen pages. But inside, it has unlimited space, thus unlimited pages. So don't even try and bother opening this thing, got it?" Both boys nods, as they have respect and are mature, as they'd never do that. Ruby then pulls out the spellbook and the wooden bow as she tells the boys, "You guys already saw the spellbook so you don't need to know that. And you also know about my enchanted wooden bow from our fighting classes. It can create its own arrows when being prepared to shoot. It's also unbreakable and fireproof, and can transform into any weapon, but no high tech weapons though."

Both boys nod understanding that as Ruby then looks like she's hesitating about something as she then grabs a book that is red with gold and silver designs and on it, is a picture of a woman wearing a red hood and a black furred loboan with red eyes from her room. She holds it out to the boys as she tells them, "This is not from the treasure chest, but it is something that I treasure with my whole heart. This book is the romantic fairy tale of how my mother and father met, fell in love and had me. My mother made it for me when I was born. In fact, you could say this is a different version of the Little Red Riding Hood story. It shows everything that happened. So go ahead and read it. You'll understand everything and more from this very special book."

Rook and Scout grab hold of the book as they look at each other confused as Rook opens the book as both read the whole story from beginning to end. Rook and Scout were so entranced with the book's content that they didn't notice Ruby leaving the room to go back to her bedroom to fix up the mess from last night. Rook and Scout were still reading until they finally got to the end where they finally figured out what really happened to Ruby's father and how he ended up missing. Both boys began getting teary eyed realizing what Ruby went through: She lost her father, she thought she was a freak, so that's why she was so shy in the beginning, and she thought they wouldn't like her if they knew what she was.

Ruby had just come back into the room after cleaning up the mess with her magic as she asks the both of them with a smile, "So did you guys like the story? I know boys don't like reading romances, but if you two did, it means you can stomach pretty much everything." Ruby laughs a little and suddenly both boys looked at her worried as Ruby takes a look in the book to see where they were.

She sees they made it at the end as Ruby smiles sadly as she tells them, "Yeah, you found out my dad is gone. He was on a mission with the Plumbers to help out Anur Transyl and save them from Zs'Skayr. But when the Plumbers came back, he wasn't with them. He disappeared, never seen again. But I don't think he's dead! He's still alive, he's on the planet somewhere, I can feel it! This is one of the reasons why I wanted to become a Plumber: So that I can find him, bring him home and back to my mother and me so we can have our family back together again. Every night I'd hear my mother crying, wanting her husband and the love of her life back and her family back together. I want my mother to be happy and I want my Dad back. And that's why I can't give up on this! Thank you guys for listening to me. It really means a lot more than you think."

Ruby smiles as she looks at her friends, when suddenly, Scout bows his head down as he tells her with sad frown, "I'm so sorry, Rubes." Ruby looks surprised at Scout's apology as Rook smiles, realizing what he's doing as Scout continues, "I've been suspicious of you since the day we met. The scent on you, wanting to know about Anur Transyl so much…I should have known what it meant, but I didn't figure it out. But now I do. I'm sorry, for being so wary of you, my friend. Please forgive me." Ruby smiles as she kneels down and tells him by looking him in the eyes, "You're forgiven, Scout. I was never mad at you. Just a little nervous." Scout's eyes widen at her, but then grins a little, thankful he has her forgiveness.

Rook smiles as he then tells Ruby, "I would like to apologize as well, Ruby. Although I was not as suspicious of you as Scout was, I was still also somewhat suspicious of you. We are both sorry." Ruby smiles telling them, "It's okay you guys, I understand. I am glad though. You have no idea how much I wanted to tell you two." All three friends smile as peace has finally been made between the three teens. And now their friendship and bond has grown even stronger.

* * *

Classes started back up a few days after Ruby revealed the truth to her friends. During their Family History class, Ruby revealed what she was to everyone: That she was Half-Loboan and a Magic User. All of the students besides Rook and Scout were shocked, even the Vreedle Brothers. The teachers weren't shocked because they were informed why she wanted to keep her true self a secret until she was ready to reveal it.

Ruby revealed her family's past and heritage along with herself and her many magical treasures. After the class was over, all of the students didn't hate her for hiding herself. They all still wanted to be her friend and want to know more about her. That made Ruby the happiest. After the day was over, Ruby called her mother and let her know what she did. Scarlet was happy of it all, telling her congrats and gave her good luck for the rest of Plumber Academy.

Now that everyone knew, Ruby began to be liked by everyone in the Academy and became popular. She had her two friends by her side through the rest of two years in the Academy. And now that they knew, she can finally be in peace with herself and she's no longer shy. But as the day of her graduation from the Academy approaches, will she be ready to fight evil after that? And will Ben Tennyson like her? Well, that has already been answered, hasn't it?

* * *

And that is the end of this chapter! This was fun and a tiny bit time consuming, but its finished. Not much action, just friend bonding! Here are the translations to the Latin spells or spell you have seen in this chapter:

'Sana caput iniuriam', means 'Heal head injury.'

Stay tuned sometime next week to find out what happens next! It all depends on my schedule and my partner's. Have a good day!


	10. CH 10 Have I Got A Deal For You Part 1

Welcome to a fun new chapter for you all to like, love and enjoy! Now we can get back to the real story. Again, I am sorry about the last update being late. But I did warn you that updates may be slower. Hopefully it won't be like that again anytime soon.

Also, to M'gann Aloma, the answers to your review? First off, yes. Rook does say Bralla Da in the series. He does so in the episode Otto Motive and possibly other episodes. I think its his version of like when people say in shock, 'Oh, my gosh!', or something like that. I hope that answers your question. And second, I can't wait for Ruby's head-to-head battle with Nyancy-Chan, too! It'll be an epic catfight! I hope you'll like it when it comes up.

Now onto the next chapter...This new chapter includes Ben and Ruby having some fun, best friend bonding, and more bad guy fighting. WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I hope that you like this chapter! Please review if you wish!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 10: Have I Got A Deal For You Part 1

It has been about a week since the last adventure of Ben, Rook and Ruby involved Fistrick and his gang and the Megawatts. Since then, Ruby has done more meditating to keep her angry urges in check. They haven't happened since then, so she's been happier. And during the week, Ben was helping Blukic and Driba, two Galvans that may be smart, but not on the same level as Azmuth. They needed help with testing a new weapon on Ben. Also during that time, Ruby had fun at her home by finishing her wood sculpture of Rook, meditation, magic practice and painting, especially painting with her hands and tail.

But most often she was with Rook, whether it was helping him work on the Proto-TRUK or his Proto-Tool, or just hanging out and talking to him. Ruby loves spending time with Rook every chance she gets. And to her great happiness, Rook, as always, also enjoyed her company just as much. Ben had gotten Ruby's phone number after their Megawatt adventure and loved talking to her when he could. He still doesn't know about Ruby's secret concerning Rook, but he decided rather than wonder about it and possibly drive himself crazy trying to figure it out, she'd tell him when she was good and ready.

In fact, right now, Ben had called Ruby and asked her if she'd show him around more of Undertown. Ruby agreed and met up with him in Undertown. Ruby was glad to hang out with Ben. Besides Rook, Scout and the Saturdays, Ruby didn't have much friends. So she was glad Ben wanted to hang out with her. They were both walking around until a villain from Ben's past appeared. This villain was known as Sunder. The villain is a hulking, grey skinned humanoid alien with a black overall-like outfit with a red trim, spiked shoulder straps and wrist bands and three metal straps around both of his upper legs. He also has long white hair, a red scar on his left eye as both eyes are red with black pupils, black trim around his face and two slits for a nose, metallic mask with two black indentions around both eyes.

Sunder caused some mayhem as Ben and Ruby look at each other and bore toothy grins as Ruby asks Ben, "Benji, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Ben grins back saying, "If you're thinking what I'm thinking, Rubes, then yes! It's Hero Time!" Ruby shifts into her Loboan form as she howls in excitement as Ben slammed the Omnitrix down turning into Shocksquatch. A few minutes into the fight, a group of aliens circled them, cheering for either side to win. Sunder's hoverboard appears ramming straight into Ben/Shocksquatch and Ruby, but they dodged just in time as aliens cheer. Both heroes quickly leap to a stand as Ruby and the alien hero hop away just in time to miss a metal tentacle with an attached axe. Ben/Shocksquatch then goes to hit the ground my Sunder with an electrical charge, but that didn't work as Sunder dodged.

Ruby growls angrily as she landed on the floor and charged for him, but the hoverboard hit her causing her to be flung back as Ben/Shocksquatch catches her as he asks her, "You okay?" Ruby nods after shaking her head to clear away the dizziness as she tells him with a toothy wolf grin, "You kidding? I'm great! Beating one of your old villains is fun!" Ben/Shocksquatch grins as aliens cheer as both heroes stand up waiting for the next move. Somewhere in the audience, an alien wearing a strange hat walks through the crowd. Sunder leaps into the air and onto his hoverboard as he demands from the shape-shifting alien hero, "Just hand me your new Omnitrix, Ben Tennyson, and this can all be over." Ben/Shocksquatch grins as he tells the villain sarcastically, "Well, sure. Since you asked so nicely."

Ruby grins telling Sunder, "And FYI Sun-bore, that was sarcasm!" Sunder throws the axe as it comes breaking through the ground and to the heroes, but they dodge as Sunder throws it again as Ben/Shocksquatch and Ruby run away in different directions. Ruby grins at the chase, but Ruby gasps seeing a little fish boy alien in front of her with a green tech ball looking scared. Ruby smiles in determination as she quickly stands in front of the kid and raises a hand toward the axe saying, "Congelare!" The axe freezes in place in the air as it falls to the floor. The fish boy grins telling Ruby, "Thanks, Miss Ruby." The kid runs away as Ruby tells him, "Your welcome!" Ruby charges back into the fight ready for more.

* * *

In the audience, is a four-armed humanoid alien who wears a brown uniform with tan stars, pockets and gloves. He has orange hair and mustache that covers his mouth, and green skin. This alien speaks to a slug-like alien with a British dialect, "Say there, my good fellow, could I interest you in-?" The slug-like alien walks off bored with him, as the green humanoid alien is appalled as he then asks a pink chunky humanoid alien with white hair and purple bows, "Ma'am, I can see that a lovely creature such as yourself-!" But he is interrupted by the alien who has a deep voice despite his feminine appearance, "Not interested." The green humanoid alien apologizes as he turns around to see a big purple hulking alien as he asks him, "Ooh. Why, it looks to me that you may be in need of a-!"

The big purple alien gets mad at him speaking in his native tongue until a crash gets his attention as he turns to the fight and begins cheering as the green humanoid alien is getting fed up with being ignored as he asks himself annoyed, "What has distracted you, my poor suckers?" He looks up to see Ben/Shocksquatch and Ruby fighting against Sunder as suddenly, the green humanoid alien smirks underneath his mustache as he says, "Jackpot!" Sunder had regained control of his axe tentacle and throws it once more, but Ben/Shocksquatch caught it as he pulls it making Sunder being pulled toward to him and tries to hit him. But Sunder dodged by hopping onto his back and tied him up as he hopped onto his hoverboard that flew by as Ben/Shocksquatch is being dragged away and into the air.

Ruby looks up and smirks as she says, "Bad idea, Sunder!" Ben/Shocksquatch, from his position in the air tells the villain, "Last chance for you to quit while you're ahead." Sunder smirks telling him, thinking he'll win, "Last chance for you to keep your head." Ben/Shocksquatch chuckles with a smirk telling him, "That was like a joke, but smaller." He then uses his electrical powers to electrocute Sunder thanks to that metal tentacle, not only hurting him, but causing the hoverboard to short-circuit. Sunder tries to fly away as he yells to the shape-shifting alien hero, "This isn't over!" Ben/Shocksquatch turns back to normal Ben with a beep as he yells to the villain, "Looks to us like it is!" Ruby runs up to Ben, back in her human form as they high-five in victory as they both cheer, "YES!"

The green humanoid alien appears in front of Ben and Ruby as he tells them excitedly, "Congratulations, children! I saw what you both just did. Wonderful, yes indeed! Absolutely superlative. But if you both want to prevent that run-down feeling after transforming from beast to human, what you need is a bottle of Professor Hokestar's Miracle Elixir." As the now named Hokestar holds out a small blue corked bottle that holds a yellow star, Ruby starts growling quietly, already not trusting this alien thanks to her aura sensing powers, as Ben asks confused, "Who with the what, now?"

Hokestar tells Ben, as he over exaggerates his product, "This is the opportunity of a lifetime! Professor Blarney T. Hokestar's Miracle Elixir will change everything!" Ruby and Ben look at each other, feeling bored, as they then turn to Hokestar as Ben tells him, "Yeah…Thanks, but no thanks." Ruby nods telling Hokestar as she growls a little as her eyes turn red and her loboan ears and tail pop up, "Yeah, we're not interested in anything you have." Both Ruby and Ben walk away as Hokestar looks at them shocked that they didn't want his product and a little scared at how the Half-Loboan reacted. So he turns around to the crowd and clears his throat as he asks everyone, "And how about you, my friends? Do you, too, doubt the veracity of my fantastic formula's amazing attributes? What's that you say? You demand a brief demonstration?"

Aliens in the crowd begin to murmur about how wrong it could end up being as some yell angrily at Hokestar as Ruby and Ben paused in their walk wanting to see what's about to happen as Ben quietly asks Ruby, "Who's the weird looking rodeo clown?" Ruby growls a little angrily as her tail swishes angrily, loboan ears stand up straight as her eyes begin to turn red. Ben shivers in slight fear, remembering how scary she was at the docks last week as Ruby answers, "Not a clue, dude. But I did hear through the Undertown grapevine, that he just got here to Earth not that long ago, so I have no idea who he is. But I have heard some rumors about him conning some aliens somewhere in space. I don't sense anything life-threatening from him that should cause us to intervene though, but that still doesn't mean I trust him."

Ben shrugs his shoulders with a small grin as he tells her, "Hey, non-life-threatening is good enough for me, one less baddy to beat." While they were talking, Hokestar has an idea as he exclaims to everyone, "Then might I have an able-bodied volunteer from the audience? If you please, somebody? Anybody?" The crowd is silent until a short alien with thick purple skin with a rock-like reptilian appearance appears wearing a lavender and gold vest. This alien has red eyes, a large chin, three fingers on each hand, two toes on each toe and he is heavily muscled. This alien is known as Solid Plugg. Solid Plugg says uncertainly, "Uh, I-I'll do it." He walks up to Hokestar as the con man tells the alien, "Excellent, my boy. Splendid, a perfect specimen. Now, just for clarity's sake, we've never met before, have we?"

Ruby's eyes narrow, loboan instincts taking over, sensing something off about them. Her instincts prove correct as Solid Plugg nearly spills the beans saying, "N-No, boss—I mean, Professor. We have not." Hokestar asks for the alien's name, "And your name, good sir?" Solid Plugg then says, "They call me Plugg…Solid Plugg." Ruby tells Ben quietly, "They definitely know each other, Benji." Ben nods telling her quietly, "I can tell." Hokestar nods as he then tells Solid Plugg, "Yeah, of course you are. And now, are you ready to have your world forever transformed?"

Hokestar looks at his lackey with a raised eyebrow since Solid Plugg didn't answer back as Plugg then answers to his boss, "Sure. Why not?" Hokestar then opens the bottle and puts a few drops on his head and rubs it as he then says to Plugg and his audience, "Just sprinkle a few drops of my miracle elixir on your scalp, rub vigorously, and in a mere matter of moments…" In a couple of seconds, Plugg experienced a great change alright, as Hokestar exclaims, "Voila! A rich, full head of…flowers?" It's true as Solid Plugg gained a full head of green hair, but it was more like grass as it grew purple flowers and a few bows. Ben and Ruby start laughing as they try to cover it as Ruby snickers saying, "Now that's a bouquet!" Ben starts to laugh at the joke as Hokestar chuckles nervously saying, "And not even in season, don't you know."

Plugg gets nervous as he stutters for a bit until he tells everyone, "U-U-Uh, yeah…It is a miracle. I was bald merely moments ago, and now, forsooth, I am not." By then most of the crowd was gone except for three aliens as Hokestar asks them, "Now, who will be the next among you to partake of my miracle elixir, huh? It's only two taydens a bottle." The three aliens like the product as they go to Hokestar and try to buy it. Hokestar is very happy as he gets their money and once his customers leave, he turns to Ben and Ruby. Ruby narrows her eyes angrily at the alien as she growls bearing her fangs with her loboan ears flatten out against her hair and her tail almost all flared out as she crosses her arms. Again, Hokestar is starting to get scared of the girl, but he needs buyers.

He then tells Ben and Ruby, "As you can see, children, business is booming." Ben shakes his head saying, "Doesn't prove a thing. Like they say, there's one born every minute." Ruby wolf smirks as she tells Ben quietly, "More like one every second." Ben laughs at her joke as they fist bump as he tells her with a smirk, "Good one!" Hokestar starts to get annoyed as he walks up to them and tells them, "Well, either way, there's nothing I appreciate better than the challenge of a hard sell." Hokestar chuckles as he then tells the two teens, "Allow me to try and change your tiny minds, hmm?" Ruby growls at the 'tiny minds' comment, as Ben crosses his arms telling Hokestar, "You're wasting your time." Ruby nods telling Hokestar annoyed, "Yeah, I don't really need anything from you."

Hokestar smirks telling them, "But it's my time to waste, now, isn't it?" Thus, Ruby and Ben have no choice but to see what he's got, but only to make sure he was clean. Hokestar takes them to his shop that is a big steampunk container-like thing as Ben and Ruby look around suspiciously, making sure if Hokestar truly is a threat. Hokestar then turns around and exclaims to the teens as he presses a button, "Welcome, welcome, welcome to Professor Blarney T. Hokestar's Extraterrestrial Emporium, children. If you cannot find it here, it probably doesn't exist." When he pressed the button, a part of his shop opened up bringing out shelves full of toys. Ruby looks at the toys suspiciously, sensing something not quite right. Ben looks at the toys with some interest as he tells Hokestar, "Seems like its just a bunch of old second-rate-!"

* * *

Ben suddenly gasps excitedly seeing a Sumo Slammers toy as he picks it up and asks Hokestar, "Where did you get this 'Sumo Slammers' action figure?! I've never seen one like it before!" Ruby face palms at this saying, "I should have known he'd fall for this." Hokestar ignores her as he tells Ben, "Special limited edition only available from the concessionaries of Budokan. Fewer than 100 ever made. If you like it, it's yours, my boy, with my compliments." Ben takes it from his hand as he asks Hokestar suspiciously, "Why so generous?" Ruby glares at Hokestar as she asks him, "Yeah, there's gotta be more to this. If that toy really is a collectible, why give it away for free?" The alien con man then tells Ben, thus once again ignoring Ruby, "Oh, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the universe to have a one-man superhero team as a spokesman for my elixir, now, would it?"

Ben looks to Ruby who is not only mad about being ignored but also sad about that comment. Ben then glares at Hokestar's back, as he knows that while he's always wanted to be a solo hero, and even though he wouldn't admit it, it felt nice having a team again, even though it wasn't with Kevin and Gwen. Truth is, Ben liked having Ruby and Rook around. With Ruby, he felt happy to be himself around her, and with Rook, he felt happy being around another guy friend, even if he was a little slow and naive at times.

Rook was still a good guy to have around, and Ruby was a great friend too. Ben continues to glare at the con man alien as he then tells Hokestar, "I guess you and your stuff may look kind of weird, but it all seems harmless enough. But about your offer as a spokesman…No, thanks." Ruby looks at Ben shocked with brown eyes wide as her loboan ears and tail stand at attention as Hokestar exclaims shocked and angrily, "WHAT?! Why?!"

Ben smirks telling Hokestar, "One, I don't trust you even if your store looks clean despite it being weird. Two, I kind of like having a team, whether its my old or new team. And three, I'd much rather be having fun with my superheroing than working a real job. Now if you'll excuse us, Ruby and I need to leave. You can have the toy back." Ben tosses it back to Hokestar as he grabs Ruby's hand as they walk off as Ruby still looks at Ben shocked. Hokestar on the other hand looks at them shocked, but then gets angry as his minion Solid Plugg walks over as he asks his boss, "How'd it go, Professor? Did you get the alien hero?" Hokestar growls angrily saying, "No, but have patience, Plugg. He'll come around, even with that Half-Loboan girl with him."

* * *

Ben is still tugging Ruby behind him as she still looks at him shocked as Ruby finally snaps out of it as she asks Ben, "Uh, Ben? We're far enough away now, you can let go!" Ben stops suddenly as he looks down at his and Ruby's hands as he suddenly blushes and lets go as he then tells her, "Sorry, Rubes. I noticed how you didn't like what that con man said. So, I thought I'd let him know I'm more of a team man than a solo act. That, and I don't trust him." Ruby smiles telling Ben as her Loboan tail wags, "Thank you, Ben. I'm glad I have you for a friend. Heck, the truth is, you're practically my first human friend on Earth besides my family's friends!" Ben smiles telling her, "Your welcome, Rubes. Now, why don't we contact Rook? Maybe he knows something about that rodeo clown con alien."

Ruby nods as Ben contacts Rook through his own Plumber badge he keeps in his pocket, who is still at Plumber HQ, as Ben asks him, "Rook? You there? It's Ben and Ruby." At Plumber HQ, Rook is startled wondering why Ruby is with Ben, as Rook then asks Ruby then Ben, "Ruby, why are you with Ben? And Ben, how was your battle with Sunder?" Ruby answers Rook through her own Plumber badge, "Ben called and asked me if I wanted to hang out and show him more of Undertown today since you were busy. As for the battle with Sunder, it was awesome! Too bad it went over quick. I wanted to fight him some more." Ben laughs at that comment as he then asks Rook, "Hey, Rook? Can you look up a Professor Blarney T. Hokestar on the Extranet?"

Rook answers them as he runs the name through the system, "Affirmative." Rook finds the alien he's looking for as he tells both of his partners, "Professor Blarney T. Hokestar – an intergalactic flimflam man, aka a con man in your Earth words. The Plumbers don't consider him a threat. Why do you both ask?" Ruby tells Rook through her badge, "Long story short, we just ran into him. And he tried to rope in Ben to be his spokesperson for his so-called 'miracle elixir'. But thankfully, Ben turned him down and we left. But he still really annoys me and makes my fur bristle."

While Rook was happy that Ben turned down Hokestar's offer, he nearly growls and hisses in anger at hearing about Ruby's fur bristling. Luckily he caught himself just in time as he then tells Ben and Ruby somewhat hesitantly, "If you two need any backup at all…" Ben tells him, "Don't worry, Rook. We promise we'll call you." Ruby smiles telling Rook through her badge, "Yeah, we promise if something comes up, Rookie. Talk to ya later." They turned the badges off, hanging up on Rook.

Ben and Ruby were looking around some more, their troubles with Hokestar gone from their minds for now. Ruby then tells Ben an old story from her past, "So, just like that, Zak and I were having fun in his place, having an awesome blast! But then…" Suddenly, both teens bumped into an alien as this strange alien asks them as they look up, "Ben Tennyson and Ruby Bloodmoon? I've been looking for you two." Ruby and Ben back up getting ready to fight as Ruby goes Loboan as Ben prepares to slam the Omnitrix as he tells the strange alien, "Yeah? Well, you found us." This strange alien is known as Pax, an alien rights activist, that is known as a Florauna, an alien similar to Ben's alien form Wildvine. He looks like a hippie with four vine-legs, vines that look like long hair on his head along with fruits/seeds, a hippie style outfit with a peace sign on it and a brown jacket which has leaves on it.

Pax asks both of the teenagers, "You're the guy that turns into different aliens, right, dude? And you, Ruby, are the Half-Loboan sorceress that saved this planet when you were twelve, right? Saving the universe and/or the world are like your thing!" Ben looks at Ruby shocked about saving the planet but he agrees with Pax telling him, "Uh-huh." Ruby grins telling Pax, "Definitely, dude. Nice to know that an alien knows about my own hero work, but I have to be honest, it wasn't all me who saved the world. It was both me and my friend Zak Saturday, as well as the rest of the family and some friends." Pax nods as he tells them both, "Then you two, of all people, should care that Hokestar's holding a poor, harmless alien hostage!" Ruby gasps as she growls angrily, still in her Loboan form, as she says, "I knew something wasn't right about him!"

Pax nods telling Ruby and Ben, "Amen, sister! He's keeping it in deplorable conditions, milking it for that so-called 'Professor's Miracle Elixir,' man!" Ben looks at Pax confused as he asks him, "Did you say 'milking'?" Ruby growls furiously saying, "What are we waiting for then, invitations?! Let's go free that poor creature!" With that, all three go over to Hokestar's store, luckily Hokester is not around as Ben knocks on the door calling out, "Professor? You home?" Ben shrugs his shoulders telling Pax, "Nobody here. We'll have to come back later." Ben walks to leave as Ruby stays with Pax as Pax then tells Ben, "Dude, you just can't give up. There's a captive creature in there, and it needs our help! Like, right now!" Ruby nods saying, "Yeah, this creature must be super important, it could be nearly extinct, for all we know! Please, Ben! We have to help it!"

Ruby brings out her full on puppy look with wide red eyes, Loboan ears down and tail not moving as she pulls off a pouty look with her Loboan form as Ben is not convinced as he tells her, "Ruby, I really don't think…" But suddenly, a whimper from Ruby stops him as he stares at her stunned as Ruby goes whimpering mode. Ben tries desperately to look away, but he just can't because she looks so adorably cute! Ben finally hangs his head in defeat and sighs dejectedly saying, "Fine! Let's go free the creature."

Ruby goes into happy mode with her ears perked up and her tail wagging like crazy as she hugs the daylights out of Ben while easily lifting him up and rubbing her head against him as she says to him, "Yay! Thank you, Benji! Next to Zak and the rest of the Saturdays, you're now officially on my 'Favorite Heroes' list!" She lets go and Ben can finally breathe again as he awkwardly smiles at Ruby while trying to control the blush that was starting to form on his face and then tells Pax, "You'd better be right, dude." Ben then slams down the Omnitrix and turns into Spidermonkey. Pax laughs at the sight as Ben/Spidermonkey climbs up the store as the hero sticks an arm in through a hole, finds a lever and pulls it up, thus opening the side door.

Ruby shakes her head in amusement saying, "Gotta love Spidermonkey." Ben/Spidermonkey drops down as he tells Pax, "We really shouldn't be in here, so try not to touch anything, okay?" Pax nods along with Ruby as she tells her alien hero friend, "Sure, but if I do touch anything, blame the Loboan in me. I can't control my curiosity sometimes." Pax and Ruby walk in with Ben/Spidermonkey seeing that the kitchen looks like something out of a horror show as Pax tells the teens, "What did I tell you two? This place is a horror show." Ben/Spidermonkey shrugs his shoulders saying, "Eh. More like a sideshow." Ruby growls in agreement saying, "Yeah, trust me when I say this guys, I've seen and been in way, WAY scarier places than this. But it is still creepy-looking."

* * *

They looks around for a minute as Ben/Spidermonkey then asks Pax, "So, where's this poor captive creature that you're so worried about, anyway?" The alien hero's tail brushed against something, activating it making it glow yellow as right below him, something opens as he moves out of the way as he chuckles nervously saying, "Uh, never mind. I think I found it." Out of the ground is a podium with a big glass bowl on top with something brown and spiky inside as Pax tells the teens, "Meet the Screegit – one of the most endangered species in the whole universe."

Ben – whose Omnitrix timed out – and Ruby look inside as the creature inside raises its head, opening both its eyes as it stands up, waking it up. The creature is a brown six-legged creature with black quills in the back with two yellow eyes with a black pupil and a cute smile. Basically, it's a cute porcupine-like alien. Ben and Ruby immediately go gaga over it as they both say at the same time, "Aww! It's adorable!"

Ben then speaks in baby talk at the little cutie, "Who's a cute widdle guy? You are! Yes, you are!" The little alien loves the attention as Ruby tells Ben with a smile, "Wow, dude. I had no idea you had such a sensitive side." Ben smiles telling her, "Yeah, well, I only find certain things cute, like this little guy." Ruby nods as she tells Ben, "I know what you mean. I've heard of Screegits before. They're supposed to be one of the most adorable and cutest creatures in the whole universe. But there was something else I heard about Screegits that's supposed to be really important, but I can't seem to remember what it was..." Ruby puts on a thinking face and starts to think about it, but she shrugs her shoulders saying, "Oh, well! It's probably not important right now." Ruby also does baby talk at the little alien saying, "You are such a cutie-wutie! I wish I could hug you in my arms!"

The little Screegit squeaks in delight at the attention as Pax tells the teenagers slightly disappointed, "Hey, guys! That's not cool. Don't talk down to him." Ben clears his throat saying with a nervous smile, "Sorry." Ruby still smiles at the cute little alien as she asks Pax as she notices the globe around the Screegit, "Hey, Pax? What's with the energy globe it's in?" Pax presses a few buttons as her question has been answered. Above the globe, milk suckers appear from a machine as they stick on the globe on and inside the globe as they suck in the bubble grabbing the quills as the suckers suck the milk out of the creature and it filters through the wall and into a bottle of the Miracle Elixir on the counter. Ben starts to look a little gross saying, "O-kay, that's disgusting." Ruby shudders and growls in agreement as Pax tells them exclaiming angrily, "I know, right?! Hokestar's using and abusing this poor creature for profit."

* * *

As he says this, he pulls away the milkers from the globe as he continues exclaiming angrily, "All of nature's creatures deserve to know what freedom looks like! Free the Screegit! Free the Screegit!" The little Screegit dances in excitement as Ben and Ruby smile but suddenly, Hokestar appears with an energy gun telling everyone, "Freeze, you miserable miscreants! Move a muscle, and I will blast you where you-!" As Hokestar takes a step, he slips on a bottle and accidentally fires at Ben and Ruby! They can't block it in time as a bright light flashes in the shop…

The gun is dropped and after it fired, the only ones standing are Hokestar, Ben and Ruby…but not Pax. All over the inside of the store are green pieces and bits of Pax as he was obliterated by the blast as only his bottom half remains standing. When Ben and Ruby realized their safe, they look around and gasp in horror at Pax's body as Ruby covers her face in Ben's chest starting to cry. Ben holds her close as he asks Hokestar angrily, "What did you do?!"

Hokestar is shocked of the outcome as he tells them, "Egads! He just ran out right in front of me! I-I-I-I didn't mean to! I, uh…" Suddenly, all the green pieces and bits start moving as they head toward the ruined body of Pax, including the parts of him on Ruby and Ben. Ruby felt something on her back as she looks up and notices what was happening as she gasps and says in a dog voice, "Aroo?!" All the pieces and bits form on Pax's body, restoring him to normal.

Pax grabs his glasses that fell and puts them back on as he tells everyone, "Whoa! That was a rush." Ruby smiles, hugging Pax as she tells him, "Dude, you're okay!" Hokestar, clearly ashamed tells them, "Children, oh I cannot begin to make proper amends for my accidental act of minor mayhem. I-!" Ben then exclaims angrily toward Hokestar, "You can start by putting that thing away!" Ruby nods and growls angrily saying, "Yeah, dude, before you actually do kill someone!" Hokestar goes to do so, but he almost drops it and struggles to get a grip on it, while the other three hold onto each other until Hokestar finally gets a grip on it and throws it outside. Which means everyone is safe…for now…

Will Ben, Ruby and Pax free the Screegit? What was the really important thing Ruby forgot about the Screegit? And most importantly, can our heroes save the day? Find out next time on the next exciting chapter of Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1!

* * *

And this is the end of Have I Got Deal For You Part 1! Here are the translations to the Latin spells or spell you have seen in this chapter:

'Congelare' which means, 'Freeze.'

Stay tuned for the second part sometime next week or later!


	11. CH 11 Have I Got A Deal For You Part 2

Welcome to the second part of Have I Got A Deal For You! I hope you all liked the first part of it. And I hope that you're all getting through the winter weather, and had a great Valentines Day! Again, updates will be slow but I will keep on going. If any old readers of mine are reading this story, I hope you noticed how much Ben and Ruby have bonded last chapter and this chapter. Their relationship reminds me of Ben and Erica from my one story, Alien Fighter and Dragon Warrior. It may be gone, but the relationship will remain with Ben and Ruby. But don't worry, Ruby will still be with Rook.

Now onto the next chapter...This new chapter includes the rest of the first part which includes Ben and Ruby bonding, the end of this adventure and maybe even some singing. WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I hope that you like this chapter! Please review if you wish!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 11: Have I Got A Deal For You Part 2

Now that Hokestar's gun was gone, everybody could relax now. Hokestar sighs in relief as he then asks the two teens and alien angrily, "Now, if I might be so bold as to ask what precisely are you three rapscallions doing in my ship in the first place?!" Pax gets in his face glaring angrily at Hokestar as he tells the con man, "You know perfectly well who I am and what I'm doing here!" Hokestar gets nervous at the alien as he asks the alien, "Uh…refresh my memory." Pax puts his hands on his hips as he tells Hokestar, "I'm Pax, alien-rights activist." Ruby gasps at that as she suddenly face palms as she says to herself, "Of course. I should have known." Ben looks at her confused as he asks her, "Huh?" Ruby sighs telling Ben, "An activist is a person that will do whatever course of action is necessary to satisfy their goals, whether it is political or social matters."

Ben still looks confused as Ruby groans/growls in irritation as she rolls her eyes as her fur starts to bristle as she's still in Loboan form as she tells Ben, "In other words, technically, Pax is a bad guy depending on what he does." Ben finally gets it as he says, "Oh! Now I get it." Suddenly, Pax grabs both teens into a hug as he angrily tells Hokestar, "And we're here to free the poor Screegit from its life of torment." Hokestar is confused as he tells them calmly, "Torment?! Everyone, I am merely doing the Screegit a kindness. Like Earth cows, the milk in its system needs to be relieved with startling regularity." Pax, being who he is, tells Hokestar angrily, "What kind of fools do you take us for?!"

Ruby and Ben finally got out of the hug as Hokestar answers bluntly, "What are my options?" Ruby answers hopefully, "I hope you're talking about Pax here. Because then your options would be either stupid or idiotic. Ben and I only came to see if it really is in torment." Ben nods as he and Ruby walk over to the contained Screegit as Ben says, "Yeah, Pax. To be honest, this Screegit does seem pretty happy. More like a pet, really, than a hostage." Ruby nods as she senses the aura of the creature as she tells Pax, "Yeah, this little cutie's aura is calm and happy. I think you were wrong on this one, Pax. The Screeit's perfectly fine."

The Screegit smiles as Pax gets angry at them as he asks, "What's the difference?" Hokestar tries to prove himself as he tells Pax, "For one, I treat the Screegit as if he were my own kin." Ruby face palms again in irritation as she mutters, "Idiot." Pax immediately gets angry as he yells at Hokestar, "You keep your family locked up in a cage?!" Ben tries to ask them, "I think-!" but Hokestar interrupts telling Pax, "It is for his own safety, of course – and ours!" Ruby looks confused at that, as she starts to think trying to remember what that means as Pax yells at Hokestar, "You-You can't do this! It's, like, a travesty, man!" Hokestar then yells at Pax, "It's not up to you, radical!" Ben starts to growl in irritation as Ruby's eyes start to get even redder as she growls in irritation as well, until…

"Okay, that's it! Ignore this!" Both teens yell at the yelling adults, as their attention is finally grabbed as Ben and Ruby grab the energy container containing the Screegit, as they yank it out, causing the pillar to short circuit! Ben then yells to the adults, "Until we know what's what, the Screegit's coming with me and Ruby." Ruby nods as she yells to them with a growl as she and Ben walk away with the Screegit, "And until we know for certain if the Screegit has been treated horribly, the both of you better get ready for jail time." As they walk away, both alien adults jumped on them, yelling as they pin them down, "No!" Ruby and Ben scream in terror as their pinned down as all four struggle to get the Screegit.

* * *

As this happens, Solid Plugg appears from the entrance with bags of berries as Pax tells them, "Every creature belongs to itself!" Then Ben yells, "Give me that back!" All four argue about taking the Screegit as Hokestar yells, "No! Gimme! It's mine!" Ruby yells/growls to everyone getting annoyed, "This cutie does not belong to anyone or to itself! It belongs to whoever and whatever created it!" Solid Plugg gets angry as he drops the bags saying, "Not again! What the boss wants, the boss gets!" Solid Plugg charges into action with a headbutt, knocking them all to the ground and/or the walls as he helps up his boss. Ben and Ruby groan in pain as Ruby says to the Screegit, "Don't worry, Sweetie. We'll get you out of here."

The Screegit squeals in delight as Ruby holds the container as Ben stands up saying to Solid Plugg, "You're gonna be really sorry you did that." Ben then activates the Omnitrix and slams it down, turning into AmpFibian. This alien is a humanoid jellyfish alien with mostly electrical powers. He's blue with six long tentacles that function as two pairs of arms and a pair of legs. He also has large green eyes with no pupils and black outlines, white swipes on his body, resembling lightning streaks, as his main body has three segmented, pointed skirt-like parts, one for his head, chest and abdomen. And the Omnitrix symbol is on his mouth.

One of the tentacles grabs onto Ruby's waist as she's holding onto the container as Ben/AmpFibian lifts her up as she squeaks at the action. Ruby yells at Ben/AmpFibian a little embarrassed, "Dude! A little warning next time!" The alien hero laughs nervously as the rest of his arm tentacles touch the floor as he electrocutes the three bad guys since the floor is metal as they all scream in pain. Both Pax and Hokestar fall to the floor, charred and gray, but very much alive. The only one still standing is Solid Plugg, who just laughs as he says, "That tickled." Ben/AmpFibian is shocked as he says annoyed, "Just our luck!"

Ruby growls annoyed as she says, "You can say that again, dude!" Ben/AmpFibian then jumps into the air and grips Solid Plugg and tries electrocuting him again, but it still doesn't work as Solid Plugg tells him while laughing, "My turn." So Solid Plugg grabs a tentacle and spins Ben/AmpFibian around and around as Ruby is starting to get sick until the villain lets go, making them hit the wall as the Screegit's container is rolling toward him. He grabs it as Ben/AmpFibian and Ruby get up. Realizing where they are, they both smirk as Ruby presses a button from earlier as she says, "You want him? You can have him." The button pressed causes the milkers from earlier to suck in air as Ruby adjusts it to maximum strength, thus the milkers grab Solid Plugg, thus letting go of the container.

Ben/AmpFibian grabs it as he tells Solid Plugg, "Hang in there." He and Ruby laugh as they walk out as Solid Plugg yells to the teen heroes, "Get back here, Ben Tennyson and Ruby Bloodmoon! Solid Plugg's not finished with you!" Pax and Hokestar wake up as they shake themselves off, causing their color to come back. They both run to the door realizing what happened as Hokestar yells to the faraway teens, "You have no idea what you're doing, children! Bring back the Screegit!" But Pax yells to them, "No! Free the Screegit!" Both adults glare at each other as Pax leaves as Hokestar has to do something before the secret of the Screegit becomes reality!

* * *

As soon as Ben/AmpFibian and Ruby made it to the surface, Ruby hitches a ride on the hero as Ben/AmpFibian holds the Screegit container as he flies toward the city. While their in the air, Ruby starts to think on what Hokestar meant by that comment when they left. She tries to remember what she forgot about the Screegit, but for the life of her she just couldn't remember what it was and it was driving her crazy because she knew it was something really, REALLY important. Ben/AmpFibian flies in the air as he contacts Rook, as he says, "Yeah, we're on our way in right now, Rook, and we've got a rare Screegit with us." Ruby squeals in joy as she tells Rook through her badge clutch, "Yeah! You should see this little cutie Rookie! It's absolutely to die for!" But instead of a happy comment, Rook freaks out as he tells them both, "You have a Screegit?! On Earth?!" While this happens, neither noticed a crack in the energy container the Screegit is in.

The container now has a hole in it letting in the Earth air as the Screegit suddenly looks sick and suddenly it rolls into a big ball as it starts to break the container. Ben/AmpFibian then tells Rook, "Well, we took it from a couple of aliens for safekeeping." Ruby nods saying, "Yeah, it's no big deal, Rookie!" Suddenly the container breaks as the Screegit falls out as it falls into the city as Ruby calls out fearfully, "No, the cutie! Ben, catch it before it becomes a Screegit pancake!" Ben/AmpFibian flies down to street level as the Omnitrix times out, causing Ruby to get off as they both land on the ground, causing the alien hero to return to normal.

As they both look around, suddenly screams erupt from people as they run away in terror as cars ram into each other. Both teens look at each other and nod as they both run to where the danger is coming from. They turn the corner and saw something that scared them: It was the Screegit, but instead of being cute, lovable and small, it became a big grotesque looking version! It's gigantic now with acid spitting out the mouth, extra limbs and jagged teeth! Ruby looks shocked and a bit disgusted as Ben asks Ruby in shock, "What just happened?! The galaxy's cutest fuzzball is suddenly looking a lot less cute." Rook contacts them through their badges, "The Screegit's not just rare. It's incredibly dangerous."

Ruby gulps and laughs nervously as she says, "Oh yeah, now I remember that really important thing I forgot." Ben looks at her shocked as he asks her getting annoyed, "How could you have forgotten something like that?!" Ruby yells at him stressed and freaking out, "I'm sorry! It's just when I see something cute, lovable, adorable and/or huggable, all logic and facts fly out the window and out of my brain, and I'm sorry!" Rook contacts them saying, "It's okay, Ruby. It was an honest mistake. I'm on my way." Rook hangs up as Pax comes from behind Ruby and Ben as the activist asks the two getting worried, "W-where's the Screegit?!"

Ben then asks Pax, "First start by telling us what happened to it." So Pax answers completely unsure of how this happened, "I have no idea. I mean, Screegits usually only react like this in a nitrogen-filled environment, but you earthlings only breathe oxygen." Ben and Ruby face palm each other in irritation at the alien's idiocy as Ben tells Pax annoyed, "Surprise! Earth's atmosphere has nitrogen in it, too, pal." Ruby growls saying, "Yeah, it's not just oxygen in the air, you know!" Pax looks shocked and surprised as he tells them, "Well, why didn't you two tell me?!" Ruby then yells at Pax, "Why didn't you ask?! If you know everything about the Screegit, you should have told us!"

Ben nods as he tells Pax even more annoyed, "Yeah, its not the sort of thing that just comes up in conversation!" Then Ben tells Pax acting this out with annoyance, " 'Oh, hi. My name's Ben and this is Ruby. Our atmosphere is rich in nitrogen. How's your's?'" The giant Screegit walks on the street causing a little shake in the area as the Screegit gets bigger as cars gets out of the way or drivers try to get out of the car. The giant Screegit's acid spit splashes onto cars and a fire hydrant causing water to spew out. People scream trying to run away as Pax begs to Ruby and Ben, "Please – you got to stop it! Without hurting it!" Ruby nods saying, "Don't worry. We'll try not to hurt it. After all, my family respects all animals, including the dangerous, the endangered, and the ones thought to not exist at all."

Ruby and Ben quickly follow the Screegit as they run on a car and back to the ground. Cars try to back away from the creature as Ruby is still in Loboan form as Ben slams down the Omnitrix turning into Swampfire. Swampfire is a favorite of Ben's aliens. Swampfire is a humanoid, plant-like alien who has an olive green and black colored body, but mostly with a flame-patterned head and root-like feet, seemingly holding rocks. His shoulders and head have red petals, five fingers on each hand, green eyes and the Omnitrix symbol is on his stomach. As they run, Ruby takes a quick whiff, as she gags while running as she plugs her nose, asking Ben/Swampfire, "Dear Moon! What is that horrible smell?!" Ben/Swampfire chuckles nervously telling her, "Sorry! It's like this when I'm Swampfire." Ruby gags as they continue running as they slide while turning a corner as Ben/Swampfire fires a flame blast at the creature.

The giant Screegit is unharmed by the fire as its acid drool drops onto the fire, extinguishing it. It continues walking as Ben/Swampfire, Ruby and Pax follow the giant Screegit as it rests its front legs on top of a gas station. But thanks to the green acid drool it has, the acid drool melted through the top and onto a gas pump, as it malfunctions. Thus causing the gas inside to explode, thus causing the whole gas station to explode, covering the Screegit! Luckily, no one was inside the gas station as people nearby managed to get away. But somehow, the Screegit is still unharmed as it walks away. Ruby whistles impressed saying, "I have to admit, that is one tough Screegit."

Ben/Swampfire suddenly turns back to Ben as Pax asks them, "So, what now?" Ben gets a little irritated with him as he tells Pax, "So, we track him down and capture him." Ruby is getting uneasy as she asks, "But how?" Ruby is shaking in slight fear and a smidge of loneliness without Rook by her side. Ben smiles as he tells Ruby by placing a hand on her shoulder saying, "We'll figure it out, Rubes. After all, I'm Ben Tennyson and you're Ruby Bloodmoon. We can do this." Ruby smiles and nods at Ben as the alien hero slams down the Omnitrix exclaiming, "Come on, Fasttrack!" But instead of Fasttrack, he turns into Wildmutt! Ruby barks in excitement as she smiles saying, "How cute! I finally get to meet Wildmutt!" Ruby scratches under his chin and nuzzles against him as Ben/Wildmutt is putty in her paws as he moans and whimpers while one of his hind legs starts moving up and down rapidly in bliss.

* * *

Wildmutt is an animal alien as he's a huge orange dog with no eyes, ears, nose or tail. His teeth are very defined as they stick out of his mouth, black lips, a green and white collar around his neck that has the Omnitrix symbol. Even though Wildmutt has no eyes, he can instead use his sense of smell and hearing which are aided by three gill-like nostrils located on each side of his neck. After a few more seconds, Ben/Wildmutt gently shakes her off as Pax asks in confusion, "Why are you a Vulpimancer?" Ruby then tells Pax then to Ben at the end, "Wildmutt is one of Ben's old classic aliens, and not to mention one of my favorites. And I'm guessing that the Omnitrix gave him the wrong alien, again! And Ben, I've said it once and I will say it again, man that Omnitrix really hates you! But at the moment, I'm so glad it does!"

Ben/Wildmutt rolls his head which looks like if he had eyes, he'd be rolling them. He then motions to Pax to get on his back as Pax tries to get away saying, "I don't know, man. I'd never ride a fellow being. It's degrading." Ruby scoffs dragging Pax onto Ben/Wildmutt as she tells Pax, and then Ben/Wildmutt, "But it's fun! Trust me, I used to ride on my dad's back all the time when I was a little kid along with all the wolves around my home whenever I could. Just hang on tight, and you'll be fine. I'll be running along side you guys. Just try to keep up." Ben/Wildmutt again rolls his head at her as Pax hesitates but get on Ben/Wildmutt as both the alien hero and loboan sorceress run zooming forward racing each other as they also hops onto cars and continues running as Ruby yells out to Ben/Wildmutt in a Western accent before howling, "Yee-haw! Giddy-up, little doggie!" Ben/Wildmutt grins at that as Pax tells them, "I tell you, this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder!"

Ben/Wildmutt growls at that as Ruby exclaims, "Not to me! To me, this is perfectly normal! I capture hunters and poachers this way that dare try to hunt any of the animals back home! And not to mention that this also works really well when you're chasing bad guys and cryptids that are running amuck everywhere!" Ben/Wildmuttt growls in agreement at that, even though he didn't really get all that, but what these three didn't know, was that they were about to get backup help from Professor Hokestar and Solid Plugg.

* * *

Back up on the surface, a train makes it through the bridge just in time as the Screegit walks through it, destroying it in the process. Ben/Wildmutt and Ruby stopped nearby the bridge as Pax says, "Oh, man! It smashed right through those tracks!" Suddenly, a train whistle blows as its coming and heading toward the destroyed part as Pax then says, "And that makes the problem substantially worse." Suddenly, the Omnitrix times out as Pax get off of Ben. Ben stands up, stretching his back as he hears a crack as he says, "Okay, that's gonna hurt in the morning." Ben then activates the Omnitrix as he tries to tell it, "Alright, Omnitrix, I need something big to stop that train, you hear me?!"

Ben slams it down turning into Jury Rigg. Jury Rigg is a little red devil-like alien with a green and black aviator's outfit with the Omnitrix as a belt on his waist. Ruby gasps in awe saying, "How cute!" Ben/Jury Rigg blushes at that as he gets angry at the Omnitrix saying, "Jury Rigg?! How does this help anybody?!" He slams it down again as he then turns into Grey Matter which is a small amphibious humanoid alien with green eyes, a green and black outfit with the Omnitrix on his back. Ruby grins saying, "Cuter!" Ben/Grey Matter growls in irritation at the wrong choice as he presses the Omnitrix again, this time turning into Nanomech.

Nanomech is a small techno fly alien with a green and metal suit, green wings and the Omnitrix on his head as he complains in his tiny voice, "Oh, come on, already!" Ruby wolf grins saying in a high-pitched voice, "Cutest!" Ben/Nanomech slams down the Omnitrix again, this time turning into Bloxx. Ben/Bloxx leaps into action making his body into train tracks as he attaches himself to the tracks as he tells himself, "Oh, is this gonna hurt." The train keeps going on Ben/Bloxx as he screams out in pain and Ruby tries to block the scream plugging her Loboan ears. Once he was done, he got off and he tells Ruby, "Ruby, fix the train tracks, so that no other accidents will happen in the future."

Ruby nods as she turns to the destroyed part of the tracks as she raises her hands and says a spell, "Fissare binari del treno!" Suddenly, all the materials used to make the track that was destroyed came together again and the track was completely rebuilt as Ruby pants in exhaustion as she falls on her knees…or she would until Ben/Bloxx held her up as he asks her, "You okay, Rubes?" Ruby nods as she pants heavily telling him, "Yeah, I'm fine, Benji. I just forgot that spells like these take a lot out of me." Ben/Bloxx continues to help her up as Pax tells Ruby, "That was awesome!" Ruby sighs irritably, telling Pax, "Glad you enjoyed it so much."

Pax then asks them, "So, what do we do now?" Suddenly, Solid Plugg tackles Pax as Hokestar appears telling Ben/Bloxx, "Use your noodles, children. You, my boy, are a Segmentasapien." Ben/Bloxx then tells Hokestar, "Is that what I am? I mean…so?"

Hokestar tells him a little confused, "So? I have met your kind before! If you transform your body to surround the Screegit in an airtight shell and allow me to vacuum away the nitrogen, the little dickens should revert to a more containable size!" Ruby gasps/barks with a smile telling Ben/BLoxx, "He's right! That could work. But we need to get it away from people before it causes any more danger. We can lure it away from people with my singing." Ben/Bloxx nods, agreeing with her as he tells Hokestar, "Okay. Stay back and let us deal with King Fuzzyface! We'll yell when we're ready for you."

Hokestar nods saying as he holds up his vacuum, "I am at your beck and call, dear children." Pax walks by telling them as he's trying to pry off Solid Plugg from his head, "Just remember, it's an innocent, harmless creature!" He pries him off and throws him to the floor as Ben/Bloxx tells Pax, "Tell that to the Transit Authority." Ruby speeds forward to the Screegit as its walking and getting bigger. Ruby takes a deep breath and vocalizes, singing in a haunting, yet enchanting melody, "Aaahhhh…aaahhhh…" She keeps repeating the song as the Screegit stops attacking and becomes entranced and falls in love with the voice as suddenly, hearts appear at his eyes. Ruby starts walking backwards slowly as the Screegit follows. Ben/Bloxx follows as he tells the people around to get away while Ruby does her thing.

They do so, getting away, as Ruby continues singing as Ben/Bloxx lands onto a building. Ben/Bloxx then tells Ruby, "Get ready, Rubes!" Ruby shows she heard him by flashing him a thumbs up. The Screegit keeps on following Ruby and her voice as acid drool falls onto the road as she continues singing, "Aaahhh…aaahhhh…" Ben/Bloxx then tells Ruby, "Almost there!" Ruby then stops walking as she continues singing until she stops, by yelling, "NOW!" Ben/Bloxx jumps off from the building and immediately makes a giant lego dome covering the giant Screegit which is now airtight as Ruby got out of the way. Ruby sighs in relief as she says, "That was close." Suddenly, Pax hops onto Ben/Bloxx as he tries to stop him by saying, "Please! Leave him alone!"

Ruby quickly grabs her enchanted bow and arrow, thus turning it into a kusarigama, swings the chain around and throws it at Pax thus wrapping it around him and pulls him away as she tells Pax, "Dude, please stop being an idiot and let us save the day." Ben/BLoxx then yells to professor Hokestar, "Now, Professor! Now!" Hokestar quickly gets over from the ground saying, "On my way, children!" Ben/Bloxx suddenly feels a burning sensation on him as the Screegit tries to break free as he exclaims to the Professor, "Can't keep this up…much longer!" Hokestar finally gets to him and jams the vacuum into Ben/Bloox and starts it up, thus the vacuum sucks in the nitrogen as it exhales out through the other part of the vacuum. The struggling ceases inside Ben/Bloxx as Hokestar tells him, "It's over, my lad. You can let go of it now."

Ben/Bloxx nods as he disassembles, thus turning back to Ben as Hokestar puts a device on top of the now small Screegit, thus containing it in its energy container as Hokestar tells the Screegit, "There you are, Precious. Back to your rightful form." But as he grabbed the container, Pax knocks him down, grabbing the Screegit and running off as he says, "No! The Screegit must run free! Free the Screegit!" Ben growls irritably asking, "Does this guy ever quit?!" Ruby sighs irritably saying, "As much as I love and respect animal rights as much as the next nature-lover, he's really starting to get on my nerves. Rookie! Could you stop him for us please?"

* * *

As soon as she said that, Rook and some Plumbers appear as Rook shoots a taser device from his Proto-Tool at Pax, shocking him into submission as Rook grabs the Screegit container, thus telling him, "We will take possession of the creature now, thank you very much!" Ruby smiles and howls in happiness as she runs up to Rook, hugging him around the waist as her tail wags as she exclaims, "Thank you Rookie! My hero!" She rubs her head against his chest as Rook chuckles nervously and blushes saying, "Um, you are welcome Ruby, and thank you." Plumbers handcuff Pax as they lead him away while Pax exclaims, "Go ahead! Lock me away! Then I'll get to experience how my caged alien brethren and sister-en feel!"

Ruby and Rook walks over to Ben with the Screegit as Ruby smiles, glad that Rook is by her side again. Rook hands the Screegit to Ben as the alien hero says, "Looks like it's a happy ending for everyone." Ruby smiles at the Screegit as it smiles back and coos in happiness as Rook asks Ruby, "It looks like the Screegit likes you, Ruby." Ruby failed to notice the hint of jealousy in Rook's voice as Ruby tells him, "Of course he likes me. I managed to charm him with my voice. And he's the cutest little munchkin ever! But don't worry, Rookie. He's not my first friend. After all, you're the first friend I had at Plumber Academy. Your more important to me." Rook looks at her shocked but he then smiles at her.

The moment is ruined however, as Hokestar tells the three teenagers, "Indeed. And now, with your kind permission, gentlemen and lady, I shall take my Screegit and be-!" Ben yanks the Screegit away and gives it to Ruby, thus Ben tells Hokestar angrily, "Handcuffed to that nutjob for a year if you so much as think about touching that Screegit!" Hokestar, realizing his dilemma, tells them, trying to get away with nothing, "Screegit? W-w-w-what Screegit? Never heard of the thing before in my life. No, indeed. Now, if you'll forgive my hasty departure, pleasure to make your acquaintances. Looking forward to your endorsement of my products, Ben Tennyson."

Ben growls at that as Hokestar leaves as he says annoyed, "Yeah, like that'll happen." Ruby smiles at that as Solid Plugg quickly follows Hokestar as Plumbers try to catch him. Rook then asks Ben and Ruby, "The Professor's motives, I can understand. That Pax fellow – not so much." Ruby nods as she tells Rook and Ben, "The guy means well. But unfortunately that makes him even more dangerous." They both nod as Solid Plugg, whose hands are tied up, tries to get to Hokestar as six Plumbers try to pull him towards them. Solid Plugg exclaims to Hokestar, "Boss! Don't leave Plugg! Plugg can't go back to the hoosegow!"

Just like that, all six Plumbers jump on him, thus pinning him to the ground as Solid Plugg says irritably, "Razzle-Frazzle red-spot Plumbers!"

With that, the day ended with no other problems. Ben and Ruby told Rook of their adventure and clever quips. Rook was happy that Ruby had fun hanging out with Ben, even though his jealousy tried to start acting up. But he was thankful they got through it. After that adventure, Ruby went back home and told her mother of her adventure and the Screegit. Scarlet was shocked of the events but was just thankful her singing worked on an alien creature. They both contacted the Saturdays and let them know of that discovery of her powers and were proud of her. Ruby gets to sleep at midnight as holds her stuffed Red Riding Wolf and can't help but wonder what will happen next. If she only knew that a certain hunter and their dog will come after her and Ben again…

* * *

And this is the end of this chapter! This one was fun and hoped you like a little bit comedy and a few changes to this chapter and last chapter. Here are the translations to the Latin spells or spell you have seen in this chapter:

'Fissare binari del treno' which means, 'Fix train tracks.'

Stay tuned for the next chapter sometime next week or later!


	12. Chapter 12 It Was Them Part 1

Welcome to a fun new chapter for you all to like, love and enjoy! Again, updates will be slow, but enough about that. Just enjoy reading this chapter.

Now onto the next chapter...This new chapter includes bonding, bad guy fighting and a lot of fun. WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I hope that you like this chapter! Please review if you wish!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 12: It Was Them Part 1

It has been about three days since the adventure involving the Screegit. Luckily, after some tests on the Screegit along with research studying that Ruby's mom, Scarlet did, the little creature was healthy and sent somewhere safe in a nitrogen-free environment/planet. Ruby was a little upset to see the cutie go, but she knew it was for the best. Ben was just happy no one would be able to do anything to the Screegit anymore. And Rook was secretly glad it was gone because of Ruby falling in love with the creature. Ruby practiced more on her temper controlling and had fun at home during those three days as everyone was doing a-okay. But today, is another adventure, preferably another dangerous one involving a certain hunter…

On this nice sunny afternoon of Bellwood, the city that gets attacked by bad guys more than anyone else, Ben is going into Burger Shack with Ruby hoping to get some food. Today, Ruby is wearing her usual outfit but her red cloak is turned into a crimson hooded vest with a silver moon on the back with a Loboan appliqué on the moon. They walk up to the window as they both order their food. Ben is getting chili-cheese fries, a triple cheeseburger, soda and a hot-fudge sundae, while Ruby is getting a quadruple bacon cheeseburger, water and french fries. What neither teenager knew or sensed, was that familiar hunter was spying on them further away…

On a far off building, Khyber the Hunter, is watching the two teens through his bone-looking, hi-tech spyglass. He smirks, thinking he'll be able to catch them as his alien dog growls impatiently. Khyber then tells his dog, "Ready, my friend?" The dog growls as Khyber pets him, and once that was over, the alien dog jumps off the building as it transforms into a new alien creature.

Down below, Ruby and Ben finally get their food and drinks as Ben holds up his bag sniffing the hot food as he tells Ruby, "Finally, some downtime, huh Rubes?" Ruby nods smelling her bag as she can't wait to sink her fangs into her burger as she tells him, "You and me both, Benji. After that mess with the Screegit, it feels good to finally get a break while enjoying a nice, big, tasty, delicious, mouth-watering, quadruple bacon cheeseburger." Ruby's mouth drools as she says this and starts dazing off, thinking of her burger as Ben awkwardly motions her to her mouth. Ruby snaps out of her daze and laughs nervously as she wipes her mouth with her hand telling him, "Sorry about that. Can't control my Loboan urges sometimes. One of few things that can ruin my day." Suddenly, the ground starts shaking as a nearby drink on the table falls to the ground as suddenly, a giant worm-like alien has come out of the ground!

This alien is a giant worm-like alien with sharp teeth, a wide beak-like mouth, and a tail ending in a pincer like set of spikes. It also has a lavender and orange hide, a white underbelly, grey spikes running down the back and four red insectoid legs on each side near the front along with a red spiked collar around the neck with a strange symbol. People scream running away in terror as Ben asks Ruby deadpanning, "Is this another thing that can ruin your day?" Ruby nods, deadpanning as she says, "Unfortunately." The giant worm, known as Slamworm heads for them as Ben and Ruby sigh disappointedly as Ben then asks a guy about to run away, "Hey, keep an eye on our lunches, would ya?"

The guy screams, running away as the worm goes through the ground, in the air and then through the ground as Ben and Ruby place their food and drinks on the table as Ruby turns Loboan and Ben prepares to slam down the Omnitrix as the Slamworm appears. Ben selects his alien as he tells the Slamworm, "Let's make this quick, slimy." He slams it down, turning into an old alien called Diamondhead. Diamondhead is a crystalline humanoid alien as his body is composed of durable green crystals, thus sporting two crystal shards on his back and sharp head, black pants, green Omnitrix belt, a black tank top with a green stripe and black shoes with green on the bottom and green eyes. He calls out to the Slamworm, "There's food with our names on them!" The giant worm spits out acid onto them, but both teenagers dodge as Ruby tells Ben/Diamondhead, "Nice to finally meet Diamondhead! He's one of my favorites!" Ben/Diamondhead nods telling her, "Thanks!"

The shape-shifting alien hero blasts diamond projectiles at the worm as Ruby fires off red aura blasts at it, but to no avail as it goes back into the ground. Ben/Diamondhead is a little shocked saying, "Huh. Nice trick." Slamworm comes up into the air and dives back into the ground on a different spot as Ben/Diamondhead tries to blast more diamond projectiles as he snaps saying, "Would ya hold still?!" It comes back up behind them and into another hole as both heroes go over to the hole as Ruby tells her friend, "It wants to play hide-and-seek!" Ben/Diamondhead scoffs saying, "Well, we don't want to-!" Suddenly, the Slamworm rises up grabbing the hero with his jaws and swings him up into air! Ruby gasps as the Slamworm opens its mouth, wanting to eat him. Ruby quickly grabs her bow and turns it into a kusarigama, spinning the chain and throws it at her friend as he quickly grabs it and she pulls very hard, bringing her friend back to her before he could be eaten.

* * *

Ben/Diamondhead sighs in relief as he tells her, "Thanks, Ruby. For a minute, I thought I was going to be an appetizer. After all, we came here to eat lunch, not be lunch!" Ruby nods saying, "I know what you mean, Benji. We better think of something fast or else we'll be worm food! And where the Moon is Rook?!"

Ben/Diamondhead and Ruby prepare for the Slamworm to charge for them. They both dodge, but the Slamworm makes a quick turn grabbing Ben/Diamondhead in its mouth and tries to eat him like before as the hero has an idea. He quickly makes his arm into a sword and plunges it inside the mouth while saying, "This is going to hurt you more than it's going to hurt me, slimy." The worm screams in pain as something breaks as it swings the hero out of his mouth as Ben/Diamondhead lands. Ruby goes over to Ben/Diamondhead as she gasps at seeing his arm broken as she says, "Dude, your arm!" The hero calmly tells her, "Don't worry, I'm fine." The arm rebuilds itself as proof as Ruby sighs in relief.

The Slamworm slams itself to the ground a few times as Ruby winces saying, "I think you hurt it pretty bad, Benji." Ben/Diamondhead smirks saying, "Yeah, guess he bit off more than he could chew, huh Rubes?" He laughs looking at the bystanders who stare at him, not laughing as Ruby facepalms saying, "Dude, that was so wrong." Ben/Diamondhead tells them, "Aw, come on! You had to admit Ruby, it was a little funny." Ruby was about to say something but they notice the worm creature wanting to get away as Ben/Diamondhead tells the Slamworm, "I don't think so, wormy. You're not going anywhere!"

He plunges an arm to the ground as crystals plunge into the earth below heading toward the creature entrapping it in a circle of diamonds. Ruby grins at that telling him, "Nice job, Benji! We got 'em!" She and Ben/Diamondhead both high-five each other at their victory.

* * *

Back on the building, Khyber watches both with annoyance that his prey beat his hunting alien dog and slight awe for beating it and at their resourcefulness. Their both very smart, or at least the Half-Loboan is. The only thing Khyber can't figure out about his prey is how did the Half-Loboan come into existence? So he decides they've won for now as he lets out a whistling sound from his gills, calling his creature back.

* * *

Back on the ground, both the Slamworm and Ruby hear the call as it spits acid at her and Ben/Diamondhead. The alien hero shields his new partner from the acid spit as Ben/Diamondhead tells the creature, "First, gross. Second, watch the girl! And thirdly…" By the time he got to three, he finally noticed that the Slamworm was gone as the Omnitrix times out turning Ben back to normal as Ruby goes back to normal as well while looking around trying to find where the whistle came from.

Ben groans in annoyance as Ruby asks him, "That was weird. Did you hear something that sounded like a whistle? I heard it just before that jumbo worm left." Ben shook his head telling her, "I didn't hear anything. But your hearing's probably a lot better than mine since you're half alien-werewolf, but usually this is when the villains would do their evil speeches at this point." Ruby and Ben walk over to the restaurant as they noticed their food next to a table as Ruby growls in disappointment as she whimpers in sadness at them being alone and not hot anymore.

Ben groans in annoyance yelling to the dude who was supposed to keep an eye on the food, "Dude, you were supposed to keep an eye on our stuff!" They both grab their food and drinks as they get back to the Proto-TRUK. Ruby gets into the back as Ben gets in the passenger seat as Ben asks Rook getting a bit annoyed, "So, this whole time, you've just been sitting here, eating…" Rook tells them as he eats his Chinese take-out box of purple things with a pair of chopsticks, "Mycetian swamp hoppers. Would you like some?" Ruby cheers up a little saying as she barks, "Ooh, yummy! I'll have two please!" Rook holds up two of them for her with his chopsticks as she takes them with her mouth, eating them as she says, "Mmm, yummy!" Ben shudders saying, "You two and Grandpa Max." Ruby grins telling Ben. "Hey, don't knock it 'til you try it. I thought alien food was kinda gross too, but ya know, its really not that bad. Besides, Rook used to feed me when I got sick a few times back at Plumber Academy, so this is normal."

Rook realizes what he did as he blushes a bit at that as Ruby blushes a tiny bit. Ben then asks Rook, "That reminds me, couldn't you have given us a little help out there?" Ruby stops blushing as she asks Rook, "Yeah, what was up with that?" So Rook tells them as he eats, "You two should have said something." Ben asks him annoyed, "Like what?" Rook acts his answer out saying with a distressed kind of voice, "Like…'Rook, help us.'" Ben tries to tell him, "We didn't need help. We-!" Ruby then tells Ben, "Benji, just be glad we're okay, alright? I really need to eat, as much as I hate to admit this, I forgot to eat breakfast."

Ben rolls his eyes at that saying to Ruby then to Rook, "Fine. Whatever. Oh, and for the record Rook, Ruby did ask where you were while we almost became worm food." Rook looks over to Ruby to see if it was true, Ruby just nods her head sadly and just like that, Rook feels guilty for not helping them, but mostly to Ruby since these feelings that he has for her are growing. He just stays quiet as Ruby rubs his shoulder in comfort and reassurance as Rook smiles at the simple gesture.

Ben then opens his bag and sees a food mess in his bag as he says a bit disgusted, "Aw, man. Look at this! There's chili-cheese fries on my burger and the hot-fudge sundae over the whole thing." Ruby shudders at that saying, "I'll betcha it won't taste good." Ben looks at his food questioningly and throws caution into the wind and eats that combined as he smiles saying, "Mmm. Not bad." Ruby gags saying, "EW! That is just gross Dude, Really gross!" Ruby then goes to her own food and eats it hoping to get the image of Ben's food out of her mind. She eats her food happily as Ben then asks his partners, "Seems like lately, I'm getting attacked by more monsters than Tokyo." Ruby nods saying as she eats a few french fries, "And apparently, they all want to attack me as well."

Even though Rook is worried about these monsters attacking Ruby, he does not know why they're attacking her. She can't be that important besides saving the planet from V.V Argost with Zak Saturday back when she was with him and the rest of the Saturdays. So Rook asks Ben, "I thought that was normal." So Ben tells him, "These things aren't normal. But who'd want to sic freaky monsters on us?" So Rook tries to say something to cheer them up to Ben and Ruby in a loud voice, "Dudes, who would not want to sic freaky monsters on you two?" When both Ruby and Ben look at him weirdly, Rook blushes at what he said as he tells them nervously and angry at himself, "I've…been…working on my conversational earthling."

Ruby smiles telling him as she touches his shoulder, "Don't worry, Rookie. You'll get it." Rook smiles peacefully and happily that he has such a good friend to help him. Ben then suddenly has a revelation as he tells them, "Wait a minute! There is one nutball I know who totally does the mutant-creature thing…Dr. Animo." Rook and Ruby look confused at the mention of him as Rook asks, "Dr. Animo?" Ben nods as he tells them while Rook looks up Dr. Animo on the Plumber database, "Yeah, guy's been after me since I was ten. He's one of the first major bad guys I ever had in my super hero career. He would make freaky frogs, mutant bats, prairie dogs…you name it." Suddenly a very low growl was sounded as both boys look behind to see Ruby in her Loboan form completely pissed off as she's bathed completely in red aura as he eyes glow red her fangs come out as he claws start showing.

Ben flinches at the scary form of the Half-Loboan as Rook is looking a bit scared of this side of Ruby, Ruby growls again telling her two friends, "I'm not liking this Animo one bit! If I ever meet him, he's going to learn not to mess with me!" Ben smiles nervously as Rook calmly tells Ruby, "Ruby, I advise you to calm down. The more angry you get, the worse it will get. Take a deep breath and let go. Keep doing that until you are calm." Ruby listens to him and does so until the aura disappears as her claws and fangs recede but she remains in her Loboan form. Ruby smiles nervously as she tells both boys, "Thanks, Rookie. And sorry about that, I keep meditating to keep control but it's still hard sometimes."

Rook nods appreciatively as he then tells them, "I understand. However Ben, I am not familiar with this nutball of which you speak, but a Dr. Animo is currently in a holding cell at Plumber Headquarters." With that, all three Plumbers head back to the Plumber base.

* * *

They drive the Proto-TRUK to the base and park it as they get out as they get up the stairs and into the elevator as Ben keep telling his partners about Animo as he tells them now, "I'm telling you guys, it's got to be Animo." Ruby nods saying, "I doubt it, Ben. Those creatures that keep attacking us appear to be alien in origin. I know everything about every flora and fauna on earth along with some of those on other planets thanks to Plumber Academy." Rook nods telling Ben, "Ruby is right, Ben. But if you truly think it is Animo, then let us find out." As they get into the elevator and the doors close, Rook then tells Ben again, "They say Tyrak the Tyrant managed to stage a military coup without ever leaving his prison cell."

Ben exclaims telling Rook, "See? There you go. That's what Animo must be doing." But Rook continues on his storytelling to them as they get to the floor they wanted and walked out, "He had plasma cannons and an army of several million." Ben then tells Rook as their all walking, "Well, Animo can use, like, a million or a billion animals." Ruby growls a smidge saying only for Rook to hear, "This guy almost sounds like Argost." Rook smiles a little in understanding as Ben tells them of a few times he took down Animo as he exaggerates Animo's losing speeches each time he was defeated, such as Ben saying as he acts them out, "Curse you, Ben Tennyson! Curse you and your meddling ways! You haven't seen the last of me, Ben Tennyson! I'll get you if it's the last thing I do, Ben Tennyson!"

Once he was done, Rook asks Ben a little incredulously, "Did he actually say those things?" Ben smiles telling them while thinking back saying the truth, "Totally. Maybe. Close enough. I don't always listen." Ruby laughs a little at that as Rook tells Ben, "He sounds like a harmless eccentric." Ben questions that saying, "Harmless?" Ruby calms down, growling a little as she says still in her Loboan form, "Anything this guy does can't be harmless Rookie. Especially if he's locked up here in Plumber HQ." Rook can't help but agree with her on that one as he opens the prison cell where Animo is to be kept with his Plumber badge, and once its opened, inside is…a bunch of mismatched stuffed animals? Their so mismatched different parts are stitched with different parts as Ruby gasps in fear as she hides behind Rook as she howls in sadness, "NO! The poor stuffed animals! Its cruel and inhumane!"

Rook pats Ruby hoping to comfort her as Ben walks over to one of them telling Rook and Ruby, "What'd I tell you two? The crazy is right here in front of us." Ben throws one of the mismatched stuffed animals at Rook which Ruby gets away from as Rook says, "Conversely, the prisoner himself is not." So Ben tells Rook, proving his point, "See? I told you he was the one attacking us!" Ruby questions this asking to herself, "But why me, though?" Then Rook tells Ben and Ruby, thinking that Ben is becoming slightly paranoid along with Ruby, "But the force field hasn't been tampered with." But Ben tells him as he looks around, "Then there has to be a vent or an access panel or something."

Ruby nods walking up to Ben, as she tells him, "I agree with you there, dude. Those things are always in these kinds of places. I should know. My friend Zak and I would go through these kinds of things all the time when we were kids." Ben nods as he tells her, "Someday I've got to meet your friend. That reminds me, why are those kinds of things here anyway? Do they want prisoners to be able to escape?" Rook shakes his head at Ben telling him, "The vents are all sealed with monomolecular grids." Ruby activates her aura powers to see if she can sense anything strange, when she sees a very small line of aura down on the ground. She turns it off as she sees a line of ants heading into a crack in the wall as she asks the boys, "Then how and why are there ants in here?"

Ben looks down and notices the ants as well as he asks, "Hey, yeah. What are all these ants doing down here?" Rook, assuming that Ben doesn't know about ants, tells them, "Ants are quite common on Earth. There are well over twelve thousand species." Ben and Ruby bend down to the ground watching the ants go behind the toilet as Rook can't help but stare at them, wondering what was wrong, as Ben asks Rook, "But what are these ants doing here?" Ben then stands up and quickly pulls the toilet away revealing a vent that was not sealed as Rook looks at this shocked. Ruby shakes her head amused as she tells Ben, "You're smarter than I gave you credit for, Benji." Ben shrugs his shoulders telling, "Eh, I have my moments."

Then Ben smugly tells Rook, "Do you still think Animo's not the guy attacking us?" Ben bends down and crawls in the vent and so does Rook then Ruby as Rook tells Ben, "I concede that he is a viable candidate." As they do this, Ruby blushes the whole time as she is staring at Rook's butt. They keep going until they get to a grate as Ben throws the grate away and hops out of it and to the ground. Rook does so as well, though he had a bit of trouble.

Then Ruby came out as Rook catches her bridal style. Ruby blushes at this as Rook puts her on the ground as all three look around realizing their in the sewer as Ben says, "And we're in the sewer. Of course we are." Ruby sniffs around not smelling anything bad as she tells Ben, "But hey, think of it this way. All that's missing are those giant alligators you here about." Ben laughs at that, but stops as Rook tells Ben and Ruby as he turns on the flashlight of his Proto-Tool, "I do not know anything about giant alligators in the sewers, but these sanitation ducts run under the whole city. The escape prisoner could be anywhere."

Ben then looks down, pointing Rook to something, "Maybe not just anywhere." All three teenagers then notice the ant trail as they all decide to follow them until they got to a corner, seeing the ants on a wall. But as soon as they turned right, they come face to face with…a giant mutant ant! Ben, Ruby and Rook gasp in shock and slight fear as the ant snarls and fires a fireball at them, but all three try to escape, except for Rook who falls to the ground as the ant tries to pin him down. An angry growl appears as Ruby punches the giant ant, flinging it away telling it, "Stay away from my Rookie, you oversized bug!" Rook blushes at this as Ben smirks not only at this but Animo's creation as he says, "Fire-breathing giant ant…classic Dr. Animo." Rook stands up with help from Ruby as Rook tells Ben, "He sounds like a very strange man."

Ben then prepares to slam the Omnitrix saying, "Time to fight fire with Swampfire!" Ruby gasps telling Ben with a distressed howl, "NOO! Any other but that! I'm still trying to get the smell out of my nose!" But Ben slammed it down, but instead of Swampfire, he turned into…Echo Echo? Echo Echo is small white humanoid alien as he's a living amplifier, wearing a suit of silicon with an appendage on his back that looks like an MP3 player with a 10 symbol on it, a green circle on each hand, inside green mouth with lines, green eyes, strange headphone like device, and the Omnitrix symbol on his forehead. Ben/Echo Echo tells himself realizing what he got in his high-pitched, tinny, low robotic voice, "Echo Echo. Why am I not surprised?" The ant gets back up and goes to attack Rook and Ruby until Ben/Echo Echo appears on the back of it saying, "Hey, Bug Eyes! Over here!"

He then shrieks out a sound wave at the creature grabbing its attention as the giant ant is now chasing Ben/Echo Echo as the alien hero calls out to Rook and Ruby, "And you didn't even have to ask for my help!" Rook is getting a bit annoyed saying, "Point taken." Rook and Ruby quickly follow Ben/Echo Echo as Ruby squeals saying, "Echo Echo is so cute! Thank you Omnitrix for giving him the wrong alien!" Rook laughs at that as the giant alien keeps firing fireballs at Ben/Echo Echo, but each time, Ben/Echo Echo is able to multiply himself 'till there are three until one of them calls out to the giant ant, "Hey watch it!" Rook pulls out his Proto-Tool and activates it by trying to shoots blasts at the ant, but it doesn't work! When Rook realizes this, he and Ruby continue to follow.

* * *

The three Ben/Echo Echos keep on running until they reach an area with five different tunnels as they turn around and make two more of themselves as the giant ant stops in front of them. All Ben/Echo Echos tell the giant ant as each one goes into a tunnel, "Pick a me – any me." The ant chooses a tunnel as it faces one of the Ben/Echo Echos that now makes two more of itself as each run into a different tunnel. The ant follows one of them until it reaches a room that looks empty besides some tunnels. Suddenly, there is a bunch of Ben/Echo Echos as each let out a sound wave at the giant ant as it shrieks in pain, thus making it explode. All Ben/Echo Echos form back into one just as the Omnitrix times out turning it back to normal Ben.

Rook and Ruby finally caught up with him as Ruby tells Ben with a wolf smirk, "Nice acoustics, dude." Ben smiles at that as Rook adds his own two cents telling Ben, "Ingenious. The sound must have atomized the pyrophoric chemicals in its body." Ben then tells Rook a little confused as he says proud of himself, "Yeah. Because Echo Echo is the sound of…" Suddenly, screeching is heard as the source of it is three giant black ants and seven giant red ants as Ben says a little scared, "…victory?" Ben groans in disappointment saying, "I really should have seen that coming." Ruby scoffs and rolls her eyes yelling at Ben, "Oh gee, ya think?!"

All ten ants surround them as our heroes are back-to-back-to-back as Ben asks Ruby and Rook, "Don't suppose you two have freeze ray or spell that could be of any help here?" Rook tells Ben with a shake of his head, "No." Ruby shakes her head saying, "I do, but I can't use it to harm any type of animal, even if they are genetically mutated. It's part of my family's code." Then Ben quickly asks Rook, "Fire extinguisher, Rook?" Rook shakes his head once again telling Ben, "That would be a useful feature." Ruby quickly grabs her enchanted wooden flute as she says, "Maybe I can calm them down with my flute." Ruby prepares to play when suddenly she hears a noise as she asks her friends, "What's that sound?" The ants hear the strange noise too as they all walk away from their prey as Ruby asks confused while watching this, "Well, that was weird." Ben nods asking, "Was it something we said?"

Rook tells them making an observation, "They gave up too easily." Ruby nods saying, "I agree. I think it has something to do with that weird sound I heard, let's find out why." All three teenagers run as they run in the tunnel to follow them until they reach the end of it as they get on their knees looking below them as they see the giant ants carrying machinery as Rook says, "Ants carrying machinery? Very odd, no matter their size." Ruby nods telling Rook, "I agree, Rook. Ants can carry things up to one hundred maybe one thousand times their own weight. But with how giant these babies are, they could probably lift things up about one million times their own weight. But the only concern I have, is what they're for?" Ben points to one of the ants saying, "I know how we can find out." All three nod as they leap off the tunnel onto one of the ants.

Once their on one of the machines the ant is carrying, Ben asks his partners a little confused, yet not wanting to know, "I'm not sure I want to know this, but, why do you two know so much about ants?" So Rook tells Ben with a smile, "When I learned I was coming to Earth to be your partner and with Ruby getting me interested in earth-creatures back at the academy, I read a fascinating guide book by Myrzel of Valdus Prime. He explained that ants are the dominant life-form on your planet." Ruby rolls her eyes as she smiles at this as Ben asks Rook slightly confused, "Why on Earth would he think that?" So Rook tells Ben, "Well, ants do outnumber humans here nearly two hundred thousand to one, and are found on every continent except Antarctica, ironically."

Ruby tells Rook matter-of-factly as she then tells Ben, "That's because it's way too cold for the ants to be there Rookie. As for me, my mother's side of the family, loves and respects all forms of nature, that includes any and all animals, even the genetic mutated ones. So I was taught how to learn and know about them along to help them get away from poachers. So I know a lot about them." Ben nods saying, "Ah, okay. Now that makes sense." The tunnel that their in finally reaches an end as it looks like their in a desert. Ruby, Ben and Rook leap off the machine to climb up to a rocky wall, quickly getting to the top, looking around as Rook asks Ben, "Now, where is this evil mastermind, Dr. Animo?" Ben and Ruby look up to a different direction as Ruby looks at a structure in front of them at awe as Ben tells Rook with a smirk, pointing to it, "Oh, I don't know. How about over there, inside that skyscraper-sized anthill?!"

In front of them is definitely a skyscraper-sized anthill that kind of looks like a castle as Ruby says in awe, "This is incredible! Oh how I wish I had a camera right now!" Rook notices the anthill as he says giving Ruby a camera from one of his pockets that did not contain a preserved special small blue Forget-Me-Not flower from the past back at Plumber Academy, "Ah, of course. And here Ruby, you can use mine. I assume you want that picture for your room and your mother?" Ruby nods happily as she hugs Rook saying, "Thank you, Rookie!" Ruby lets go as Rook blushes as Ruby quickly takes a few pictures as Ben smirks at this. He has a feeling that the both of them like each a lot.

After the pictures are taken, all three teenagers follow the ants through the rocky terrain by running on a small bridge as they get to an entrance as Ben tells his partners with a smirk ready to slam down the Omnitrix, "I don't see a doorbell. I guess we'll just have to invite ourselves in." Ruby smirks at the idea of force but it falls down as Rook quickly grabs some stuff on the ground in a puddle, then smears it onto Ben's face. Ruby gags at this as Rook prepares to do it some more on Ben then himself as Ben asks in anger, "Hey! What's with the mudpack?!"

Once Rook was done with himself he tells Ben, "Not mud – pheromones. Ants instinctively attack any intruder. With these secretions on us, we will smell like members of the colony." Ruby shudders saying, "I guess I have to do this too?" Rook nods regrettably as he says, "Please forgive me, my friend." Ruby sighs painfully and smiles a little at him as she tells him, "It's fine Rookie. I understand, slap it on me." Rook gathers some in his hands and gently splashes it on Ruby. The girl tries her best not to freak out and blush as Ben tells Rook getting irritated, "This had better work, Rook. Because if you just smeared us with ant-goo for nothing, we're gonna have a problem, man." Ruby complains whimpering at the stuff on her as she says, "I'm so going to need fifty baths or more after this!" Ben rubs her shoulder comfortingly as all three follow the ants as they hope they can stop Dr. Animo from doing whatever it is he's doing…

* * *

And this is the end of It Was Them Part 1! There are no Latin spells this chapter.

Stay tuned for the second part sometime next week or later!


	13. Chapter 13 It Was Them Part 2

Welcome to the second part of It Was Them! I hope you all liked the first part of it. And I hope that you're all getting through the winter weather, and had a great St. Patrick's Day. Updates may be slow again, but I will keep on going.

Now onto the next chapter...This new chapter includes the rest of the first part which includes bad guy beating, bonding and among other things. WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I hope that you like this chapter! Please review if you wish!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 13: It Was Them Part 2

Continuing last time, all three teenagers are following the ants while Ruby shudders in disgust with the goop on her as she says, "This stuff smells horrible! Its almost as bad as Swampfire!" Rook rubs her shoulder in comfort as they walk toward a tunnel, but a giant ant turns around as all three teenagers stop. The ant walks over to them as Ruby hides behind Rook and so does Ben as the giant ant smells them as Rook closes his eyes. The three take a peek as the giant tan ant turns back around and continues walking. Ruby sighs in relief as Ben asks Rook a little annoyed, "You proud of yourself?" Rook walks away with a smirk saying, "I did not say a word." Ruby walks to Rook laughing a little at that as Ben follows with a frown and crossed arms.

Once all three are inside, they look down from a bridge seeing baby ants aka grubs eating as Ben gags holding his stomach as Ruby says, "Aw, they're so cute!" Ben looks at Ruby weirded out all three continue walking until they get in a rocky tunnel inside the anthill and see a skyscraper-sized machine being worked on. And at the controls with a freaky outfit and helmet? Dr. Animo. This man is wearing a green trench coat with some hi-tech additions brown pants, black boots, black gloves, a glass helmet that covers his brain and a pair of antennas. Dr. Animo then tells his precious ant colony, "Yes, my pets. Build, construct, grow!" The teenagers get to him as Ben calls out to him, "Dr. Animo!" Then he calls out to him with a sneer, "Ben Tennyson!"

Then as Ben wipes off the goop on his face, he asks Dr. Animo, "What's the deal with sending creepy mutant aliens to kill not only me, but my friend Ruby too?" Ruby, who still had her magic red-hooded vest on her, turns it back to its original cloak form as she nods as Rook grabs Ben shirt and wipes his face off with it. Ben is a little freaked out at that as he gets him to stop as Dr. Animo then tells Ben, "Mutant aliens? I don't know what you're talking about." Ruby steps up and tells Dr. Animo with an angry Loboan smirk and wild blood red eyes, "You sure about that?! 'Cause with the all mutant ants I seeing, you're a despicable man that not only wants power but you're making animals that are wrong to Mother Nature!"

Ben nods agreeing with her as he tells Dr. Animo, "Yeah, don't play dumb!" But Dr. Animo tells them, "I'm not playing. Honestly, I hadn't planned on killing you until Phase Two, but here you are. However, I have no idea who your friend Ruby is. Although she does look somehow familiar. Tell me my dear, are you acquainted with, or perhaps know anything about the Secret Saturdays?" Ruby's eyes go wide before glaring at Animo as she says with a steady voice trying to keep the panic out, "What's it to you if I do?"

But Rook catches the hidden panic in her voice as he watches this happen and can't help but feel concern as Dr. Animo figures it out saying, "Of course! You're Ruby Bloodmoon! You're the alien-werewolf girl who along with that Saturday brat destroyed a fellow villain that I was quite acquainted with, someone who I looked up to, someone who I'm sure you know quite well…V.V. Argost!" Ruby's eyes widen in slight fear, realizing Dr. Animo was friends with Argost and knows about her and what she is. Ben and Rook look at her in concern, mostly Rook as he can't help but feel angry at Dr. Animo for scaring Ruby as he growls.

Dr. Animo sneers telling the girl, "Yes, I know exactly what you are my dear. And now not only can I take my revenge on Ben Tennyson, but I can take you down as well, and as soon as I am finished with the both of you, that Zak Saturday brat will be next when I find him!" Ruby growls angrily with her fangs showing as her face and angry red eyes are shadowed saying, "Not while I'm still breathing, you animal and cryptid abuser!"

Dr. Animo then smirks telling her and then all three teenagers, "We'll see about that my dear. And now, you all will witness my greatest triumph. Did you know that there are roughly a quadrillion ants on Earth, with species native to every continent but Antarctica?" Rook smiles at Ben, even though Ruby is getting furious of Dr. Animo, as Ben tells Dr. Animo a tad annoyed, "Actually, yes, I did." Rook frowns at that tone as he still looks at Ruby concerned. He has only seen her truly angry a few times, especially a little of that one time with the Megawatts. He hopes she can calm down before she snaps.

Dr. Animo continues telling them, "The device before you all generates a mutagenic pulse. It will turn every single ant on the planet into a giant mutant – with me, Dr. Animo, as their king. The world will be my ant farm!" He laughs evilly to the sky as Rook tells Ben and Ruby, "This is not your guy." Ben nods, understanding everything saying, "You got that right." But Ruby growls in anticipation and anger, asking her friends, "But we can still beat him up, right? After what he's done to these innocent ants and what he's going to do to future ants and the rest of the animal kingdom, we can't let him get away with it, right?" Ben nods saying with a smirk of his own, "Oh, big time!"

* * *

Outside the giant anthill, Khyber and his alien hunting dog had followed them there as the dog sniffs around finding their scent inside as it snarls as Khyber tells it, "Flush them out." The alien hunting dog is let loose and runs inside going to find its prey.

* * *

Back inside the skyscraper-sized anthill, Ben then tells Dr. Animo, "Okay, no offense to my animal loving, alien werewolf friend, Ruby here, I have to admit that an army of giant ants is kinda cool…" Ruby growls angrily at that as her fangs bare out as Rook tries to calm her down as Ben continues telling the mad doctor, "…but come on! You know we can't let you get away with it. My partners and I are gonna-!" Suddenly, Rook and Ruby are looking at a giant ant carrying a piece of machinery that is familiar to them as Ben sees this. Rook then tells Ben, "That is a Kormite power core." Ruby shudders in slight fear, anger forgotten as she says, "Oh, that is so not good." Ben tries to get their attention, but Rook shakes it off telling Ben, "Uh, keep chatting. We got this."

Ruby and Rook run toward the ant to stop it as Ben looks confused at feeling abandoned as he then turns to Dr. Animo telling him, "Okay. Looks like it's just me who will smash this picnic." The mad scientists presses something that rises up as he tells Ben, "Do your worst, Ben Tennyson. Nothing can stop me!" He laughs evilly as he then presses another button before Ben could get to him. The machine starts to activates as a part of it rises to the top of the anthill as Ben prepares the Omnitrix as he asks it, "Okay, one more time. Come on, Swampfire!" He slams it down, but instead of Swampfire, he turns into a certain muscular, humanoid tiger alien with black stripes all over, a white chest, white feet, white hands, a black claw on each hand, green slanted eyes and the Omnitrix symbol on his chest aka…RATH!

Ben/Rath roars angrily into the air as Ruby turns around at the roar and gasps happily as she howls saying, "Finally! I finally get to meet and see Rath! He's actually kind of hot, and really, really funny!" Rook suddenly growls angrily at that as his jealous feelings are coming back, realizing what he just did as he blushes in concern as Ruby sets her attention back on Rook as she follows him. Once Ben/Rath was done roaring, he notices his appearance as he yells at the Omnitrix, "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, NEW OMNITRIX THAT KEEPS TURNING ME INTO THE WRONG THING – YOU KEEP TURNING ME INTO THE WRONG THING!" Ruby laughs at that as she yells out to the alien hero as Rook tries to stop the giant from taking the machine, "You got that right! But I like Rath! He's downright hilarious!"

Rook growls angrily at that again as he yells to Ben/Rath, "Ben! Don't forget Animo!" The alien hero turns around to glare at the scientist as Ruby goes to help Rook as Ben/Rath charges for the evil scientist. Animo then uses his helmet to summon his army of ants to him by calling out, "Come, my ant army! Destroy Ben Tennyson!" The alien hero leaps into the air, but a giant tan ant tackles him to the ground. The hero gets away just as the giant ant fires acid at the wall. It keeps on firing as two more appear as Dr. Animo tells Ben/Rath, "You may be strong, but in sufficient numbers, ants can bring down any prey." But Ben/Rath doesn't care as it takes down the ants while yelling out some kind of wrestling moves, "COSMIC DROP! INCURSEAN AMBASSADOR! SERIOUS BUTT-KICKING!"

All three are taken down, but more of them come down like buckets from the air and dog-piled him as Dr. Animo tells him, "In a few minutes, you'll be nothing but bones." Ben/Rath then yells angrily at Dr. Animo as the giant ants crowd around him, "OH YEAH? DR. ANIMO, YOUR TERROR…uh, MATANTS…RATH IS GONNA-!" There are too many giant ants as they cover around him, muffling his screaming as he's covered up as the giant ants begin biting him.

* * *

As the giant ants begin biting him, Ben/Rath yells out angrily, "OW! NOW YOU'RE ASKING FOR IT, GIANT ANTS! RATH WILL SQUASH ALL YOU GIANT BUGS!" Suddenly, a supersonic Loboan howl along with blasts from a certain Proto-Tool hits some of the ants covering Ben/Rath as Dr. Animo looks on shocked. Ruby and Rook managed to free him as Rook shoots a grappling hook at Ben/Rath's arm pulling him to them. Once he gets there, Rook tells Ben/Rath, "Ben, we have recovered the Kormite power core!" Ruby sighs with relief saying, "Yeah, I had to nerve pinch the ant to make him drop it, but we got it back." Ben/Rath growls as he tells them with a yell, "LET ME TELL YA SOMETHING, NEW ALIEN PARTNERS THAT I NEVER WANTED IN THE FIRST PLACE BUT I'M BEGRUDGINGLY BEGINNING TO LIKE IN SPITE OF MYSELF EXCEPT FOR MISS RUBY 'SCORCHING HOT' BLOODMOON, WHO I LIKE HAVING FOR A FRIEND A LOT, RATH IS GONNA-!"

Suddenly, the Omnitrix times out as Ben turns back to normal as he blushes and laughs nervously at what he just said as Ruby blushes red like a fire truck as she smiles a little while innocently twirling part of her hair between her fingers saying, "You do?" Rook growls angrily at that even more, especially at the 'scorching hot' remark. While knowing that Ben really just liked her as a friend as he just said, he can't help but still feel jealous at the remark. Suddenly one of the giant ants appear in front of Ben as Ruby quickly fires a red aura blast as she and Rook try to get rid of the ants with Proto-Tool shots and red aura blasts. A crowd of giant ants charge for Ben as the other ants are trying to take down Ruby and Rook. Ben quickly slams down the Omnitrix just as the crowd of ants trying to attack him dogpile him. But the giants ants are suddenly flung away as shooting out from the ground like a missile is…a new alien?

The new alien lets out whoop of joy as he lands on the ground as the new alien is Ben. This new alien is a green humanoid mix of a grasshopper and a praying mantis with large hind limbs, a green film-like material connected to his leg joints, large green horn, green overalls with black stripes all over and the Omnitrix symbol is on his stomach. Ben/New Alien looks at himself impressed saying, "Whoa! New alien! Cool! I wonder what I can do?" Ruby gasps in awe seeing this as she tells him, "Dear Moon! What other surprises will he have next?!" Rook sees it as well as he tries to hold a giant ant back as he tells Ruby, "I do not know, but could you please help me here?!" Ruby agrees as she smiles nervously telling him, "Oh, right. Sorry, Rookie." She tries to help him as Dr. Animo tells Ben/New Alien, "It doesn't matter what you do. For now, you face the fury of…The Ant King!"

Dr. Animo places an ant mask on his face, making him look like an ant as Ben/New Alien tells Dr. Animo confused, "Ant King? You might want to work on that name." Ruby nods yelling at Dr. Animo, "Yeah, animal and cryptid abuser, there can only be an Ant 'Queen', not King!" Dr. Animo doesn't listen as he fires some flames at Ben/New Alien, but he jumps away, crushing into an anthill wall as he pulls himself away yelling to Ruby, "Hey, Rubes? What do you think I should name this one?" Ruby has a thinking face until an idea comes to mind saying with a smile, "How about, 'Crashhopper'?!" Ben/Crashhopper smirks saying, "I love it!" He then hops to a protrusion of the machine, then ricochets at Dr. Animo, knocking him down as he does so again.

Ruby and Rook finished taking down the ants as they look above at the top as Rook asks Ruby, "Are you thinking what I am thinking my friend?" Ruby nods saying with a smirk, "Only if you're thinking what I'm thinking." Rook quickly grabs the Kormite power core and uses the grappling hook on his Proto-Tool to near the top as Ruby holds onto him by wrapping her arms around his neck as they zoom up to the top. Back with Ben/Crashhopper, he hops and ricochets around to take down Dr. Animo with a good kick as the evil scientists groans as Ben/Crashhopper is on a different level of the machine as the alien hero tells the mad scientist, "Had enough, Animo? Because I'm having a blast!" Suddenly, he hears Rook yell out from above, "Ben! If you have a moment?" Ruby nods yelling out, "Yeah, we need help here, pronto! Ants are all over the place!"

Ben/Crashhopper then bounces up super high, reaching to Rook and Ruby as Ruby tries so hard not to hurt the mutated ants. So Rook tells Ben/Crashhopper as he holds the Kormite power core, "We can set this power core to detonate. It will destroy the anthill, the ants, us, several populated areas." Ben/Crashhopper looks happy then scared of what could happen as he says, "Bad plan!" Then Ruby has an idea saying, "Although I hate to think of this, let alone say it, what if we adjust the power core frequency to atomize just the ants?" Rook nods at that as Ben/Crashhopper says, "Better plan, Rubes." Ruby smiles a little as through the elevator that is near them is Dr. Animo as he tells them, "Oh, curse you, Ben Tennyson and Ruby Bloodmoon! Curse you and your meddling ways!"

Ben/Crashhopper then smirks telling his teammates, "See? Told you he talks like that." Suddenly, from behind them appeared the same blue alien hunting dog from Khyber as it snarls as Ben/Crashhopper looks confused, but thinking Animo made him tells the mad scientist, "Mutant dogs, too? One theme at a time, Animo!" Dr. Animo then tells the alien hero confused, "What? That's not one of mine." Ruby looks at the blue alien hunting dog closely as she gasps in shock as she yells to Ben/Crashhopper and Rook, "Um, guys?! That's not a mutant dog! That's an Anubian Baskurr, an alien dog species and that's not all! This dog has the exact same aura signature as all the alien creatures that keeps attacking us!"

She was right as the dog snarls turning into a big giant alien! It's a fat, grey, rock-skinned alien that has purplish-pink spheres and the red spiked collar with the weird symbol. Basically, it's a grotesque frog with sacks. All three teenagers and Dr. Animo look on in shock as Ruby gulps as Rook then tells his partners, "I did not see this one coming." Dr. Animo then starts to laugh evilly and impressed as he says, "Ohhh! It must be mine!" He then tries to use his helmet to take control over it, "You must obey me. Destroy Ben Tennyson and Ruby Bloodmoon!" But…it did not work as it charges for them anyway as the giant mutant ants run away as Animo runs inside the elevator as the giant frog alien traps him side by sliding to it on the floor.

Ruby, Ben/Crashhopper and Rook stand up as the alien hero leaps to the ceiling then onto the alien, but he's deflected back. He tries to do so again, but it still does not work. He growls as he then smirks and tries it again, but instead of the skin, it falls into one of the sacks and he can't get out! He tries to break free, but his feet and hands are stuck as Rub gasps as Ben/Crashhopper says getting scared, "Uh-oh!" Ruby growls angrily saying, "Hey, leave him alone!" She charges for the monster, but the monster alien moves slightly, causing Ruby to be caught in one of the sacks too! Now she can't move! Khyber made it inside, seeing this as he tells himself while pulling a sword from his back, "Almost done."

Ruby and Ben/Crashhopper still try to break free as the alien hero calls out to Rook, "Rook? (groans) Help us." Ruby whimpers saying, "Please, being in here is super grosser than the ant goop! I can barely move, And I think...I think we're sinking into it!" Rook takes down the two nearby giant ants as he aims his Proto-Tool at them, as he is looking shocked and scared of Ruby being trapped, but will do anything to save her and Ben/Crashhopper. Rook then tells them with a smile, "Gladly, partners. Hold still." He fires a grappling hook at Ben/Crashhopper which pulls him out then does the same for Ruby. Once they made it out, they flash him a thumbs up saying, "Thanks!" Suddenly an alarm beeps as the machine their on is about to start! Rook quickly makes his way to the machine while Ruby and Ben/Crashhopper have to take down the giant alien.

* * *

Ben/Crashhopper then hops with Ruby on his back over the giant as it tries to smash them as he asks her, "Do you know what that thing is, Rubes?" Ruby nods saying, "Yeah, the form its taking is called a Mucilator. We need some extra help to take it down." Once they get there, as Ben/Crashhopper tells Ruby, "This thing is definitely an invader. The ants ought to attack it." Ruby looks around, then notices the helmet of Dr. Animo as she then tells Ben/Crashhopper with a bark and a smile, "Dude, I got an idea. We let nature take its course. Destroy Dr. Animo's helmet!" Ben/Crashhopper grins as he hops over, grabs it and pulls it off as he then smashes it with his knee, destroying it, and freeing all the giant ants.

All the ants are free, but the Mucilator still charges for Ben/Crashhopper and Ruby, but suddenly, all the giant mutant ants appear dog-piling the Mucilator as Ruby then yells to Rook, "Now, Rookie!" Rook nods from above as he gets back to the controls where the Kormite power core was inserted and pushes the switch, not only destroying the machine, but self-destructing the giant ants as well on top of the Mucilator. Once it was over the Mucilator turned back into the alien dog shaking itself of as it runs away. While this happens, Dr. Animo tried to escape, but Rook leaped down and blocked him, as he tells the mad scientist while aiming his Proto-Tool at him, "Aloysius James Animo." As this happens, Ben was turned back to normal as Ruby turned back to human as Ben tells Dr. Animo, making fun of him, "Ooh! He middle-named you. You are so busted!"

Ruby laughs as she tells Dr. Animo, "Yeah, you're not getting rid of us that easily." Dr. Animo whimpers a no, realizing he has been caught and detained.

* * *

Back outside, the alien dog from before walked out with an angry growl as it returns to his master as Khyber tells it, "No. No, old friend. You did your job." He sighs then as he continues, "Tennyson and Bloodmoon were lucky. Next time, there won't be a petty mutation freak between me and my quarries."

* * *

Back with the three teenagers, they returned to the Proto-TRUK as it is in its spaceship form with Rook driving to Plumber base with Ben looking out the window worried as Ruby seat next to him in the middle, just looks down at her hands which are rested in her lap, clearly troubled. Rook notices the silence as he can not help but ask, worried about his partners, "This is not your usual jubilant-post-butt-kicking attitude for either of you…dudes." Ben sighs worriedly as saying, "Animo's not the guy." Rook nods saying, "That is true." Then Ben continues saying, "And that…whatever it is that keeps jumping me and Ruby, did you two see how it turned into the exact perfect predator to fight my new alien and keep you trapped, Ruby? It's like a Ben and Ruby eating monster."

Ruby nods saying, "You can say that again, that thing really was after the both of us, no doubt. Something wasn't right about it either. I wonder if someone is using it to try and capture us. Like a hunter that sends its dog to get the captured prey." Rook sighs dejectedly and ashamedly as he starts to get worried and afraid, saying, "I will admit I thought you two were being paranoid before, but now…someone is definitely out to get you two – someone very dangerous." Ben continues to look outside as Ruby keeps her head down. Then Rook, feeling concern for Ruby asks her, "My friend, are you troubled about what Animo said about Argost along with him knowing you and your connections with the Saturdays?"

Ruby grimaces as she nods saying, "I'm very troubled, Rookie. Even though we caught Animo, I can't help but feel that it will not be the last we'll hear from him. Animo actually knowing Argost? That's completely insane! And it worries me just as much as how he knows about me and what Zak and I did in the past. If he has plans involving me and Zak, I have a very bad feeling we will both be in big trouble." Rook, wanting his friends to feel better and to keep Ruby smiling, says in a happy voice, "Then it is a good thing we have stopped the nefarious Dr. Animo for now. And if he does escape, we will just have to take him down again."

Ben smiles at that feeling better already, as Ruby smiles as she looks up to Rook telling him, "Now that was good conversational earthling, Rookie." Rook smiles tenderly as he pets her head sending love and care through it as Ruby blushes a little and leans on him while resting her head on his shoulder and smiles once more, happy to have Rook with her through it all.

* * *

Back in Animo's prison cell, he makes a new mismatched stuffed doll as he says to himself, already trying to think up a new plan to escape, "You haven't seen the last of me, Ben Tennyson and Ruby Bloodmoon. And you, Miss Bloodmoon, have no idea what I'm planning, neither you, nor your friend, Zak Saturday." He squeezes the stuffed animal hard and laughs evilly to the air, his motives unknown…

* * *

After the wild and crazy adventure, Ruby had told her mother Scarlet of what Dr. Animo did and how he knew her. Scarlet immediately became scared and angered of the things Animo did to innocent ants along with him knowing about Ruby and the Saturdays, along with her and Zak defeating Argost. But what scared her the most was that someone or something could be after her and Ben. But Scarlet knows that Ruby can handle herself. And she was also happy that Ruby tried her best not to harm the giant mutant ants due to her family's code.

After that, Ruby called Zak and the rest of his family and let him know of the new information. He was shocked about this, and told Ruby about how Animo was also in their criminal data-base as well. He also really wanted to come over and help, but Ruby told him she would be fine as long as she has her two partners/friends with her and promised to keep in contact if something comes up. Zak let it go for now as the rest of his family said hello until they hung up. Scarlet and Ruby then had a good dinner as Ruby went to bed with a smile as Scarlet can't help but wonder when her daughter would finally bring her two friends to the house for a visit…

* * *

And this is the end of this chapter! This one was fun with a little bit of comedy and good Rath fun. Again, like last chapter, there are no Latin spells, due to not needing them. Hopefully we'll see one or two in the next chapter.

Stay tuned for the next chapter sometime next week or later!


	14. Chapter 14 SLATFATS Part 1

Welcome to a fun new chapter for you all to like, love and enjoy! Again, updates will be slow, but enough about that. Just enjoy reading this chapter. Also, has anyone gotten the new Annie movie? I did and it is beyond awesome! Made me cry every time I watched it! Also, the drop down box to select this chapter name has been shortened into letters because I couldn't fit the chapter title.

Now onto the next chapter...Again, this new chapter includes bonding, bad guy fighting, possible old grudges and Ruby and Rook fluff. WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I hope that you like this chapter! Please review if you wish!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 14: So Long, and Thanks for All the Smoothies Part 1

It's been about a few days since the adventure involving Animo and the alien hunting dog. Ruby has started to stop worrying about Animo at the moment and continue on with life as she started to paint Rook on her easel. She hasn't finished with it yet, but its supposed to be of her and Rook together. Rook has been worried about Ruby since the whole Animo fiasco. But most importantly, he's been worried about who has been after Ruby and Ben. All that he and his partners know is that this being has an alien dog that can shape-shift into the perfect predator for Ben's aliens and can keep Ruby trapped for a bit of time, and that this being that controls the alien dog must be a hunter. As he gets worried, so does Ben. Ben has also been worried about this, but he won't let that get in the way of his hero career and protecting those he loves and cares about.

But this adventure doesn't begin with them worrying. This adventure begins in space, where the stars are shining, the moon is glowing beside the Earth, and…a scary black-looking space ship? This is true as it appears out of nowhere ominously as it oozes destruction. Suddenly, three missiles are fired from it heading toward Earth. One of them heads to a school as Ben is already there, as he slams down the watch turning into his recent new alien Crashhopper. He leaps into the air yelling a whoop as his head makes target with the missile taking it out and not causing destruction as it lands on the ground. Ben/Crashhopper lands on the ground, holding his head in pain as he grunts. He then leaps up again as the other missiles appear from the sky.

Nearby, Rook calls out to the citizens of the city, "Out of the way, people of Bellwood! Run!" The citizens do so as Ruby in Loboan form with a crimson leather short jacket where the bottom half is cut out, yells out, "Run in a disorderly fashion, if you don't want to die!" They all run out screaming as one of the two missiles is on their way to Rook and Ruby. Luckily, Rook and Ruby dodged it just as it hit. But two pieces of debris from the pathway, are falling towards a woman and her baby in a stroller! Luckily Rook grabs his Proto-Tool aims and fires at one piece of debris while Ruby aims her bow and arrow and fires, destroying both pieces. Ruby sighs happily saying to herself as she looks at Rook, "Dear Moon, I love that alien!" Ben/Crashhopper then reappears turning back to normal Ben telling Rook and Ruby, "Nice save, you two."

But then Ben looks at the missile that fell saying, "But I think we've got an even bigger problem." Suddenly, the missile's spikes pop out having purple glowing balls on them and it fires a purple energy beam into space and so does the other two missiles going toward the ominous black space ship as all three teenagers look on in shock as Ruby's fur bristles saying, "Boys? I've got a very bad feeling about this."

* * *

About a couple of minutes later, all three decided they had to find out what was going on as Grandpa Max told them what was going on. So they all got in the Proto-TRUK and headed up to where the beams are heading. They get up in space heading straight up to the ship as Ben and Ruby look at it in awe as Ben says, "That is one big honking ship!" Ruby nods as she says while Rook looks at it curiously, "Amen to that, dude! Seriously honking." Rook asks them confused as he presses a few buttons, "I cannot hear any honking." Ruby shakes her head amused as Ben tells Rook annoyed, "It's an expression, Rook." Ruby nods telling Rook with a smile, "Yeah, what he means Rookie, is that it's one of the biggest alien space ships he's ever seen."

Rook nods finally understanding as he says, "Ah, right. That honking ship has anchored itself to Earth." The Proto-TRUK flies by with a flashlight shining onto the ship, when suddenly, a high-pitched feedback noise erupts from the com as Ben plugs his ears, Rook's face gets uncomfortable, and Ruby plugs her Loboan ears, while howling and whimpering in pain as she goes in fetal position. Once it ends, Ruby asks angrily with a growl as her eyes glow redder, "What the bloody Moon was that?! That was worse than nails scratching on a chalkboard!" Suddenly, Max speaks to them over the com saying, "How's it going up there, kids?" Ben tells him, "We're on approach now, Grandpa."

On the other side of the com, there's a crash as Ben asks him, "How's it going down there?" Grandpa Max, who is currently working on some new culinary creation as some Plumbers are trying to catch Solid Plugg, tells Ben, "It's nothing a little seasoning won't fix." He takes a taste, as it does not taste good. Solid Plugg tries to run away after taking down three Plumbers, but Grandpa Max flings a creature at him from his culinary creation from behind, trapping him and knocking him out as the Plumbers take him away. Back to the conversation, Grandpa Max tells the three teenagers, "Now, Ben, we don't know anything about that ship or what's on board, so be careful. Oh, and Ruby? Your mother wants you to know she's making apple cinnamon pie for dessert tonight."

Back on the Proto-TRUK, Ruby howls out happily saying, "Yes! Yummy pie!" Ben laughs as he tells Grandpa, "Come on, Grandpa, you know me." Grandpa tells Ben all annoyed, "Uh-huh. That's why I said it." Ruby laughs a little at that as Ben looks annoyed as he then tells Grandpa, "Okay, I promise Rook, Ruby and I will call you if we see anything weird." Ruby then mouths to Ben as the com is taken down, "Will you?" Ben shakes his head meaning no, as Ruby laughs quietly saying, "Typical. You remind me so much of Zak Saturday, it not even funny."

Rook then asks his two partners while pointing to a giant hole in the ship like someone rammed it in, "Weird like that?" They fly up to it and get to a door that can connect with the Proto-TRUK. It opens up as Rook has a face mask to keep him breathing as Ruby does so too. But Ben walks out without one as Rook looks around for any signs of danger. So Ben rolls his eyes telling Rook and Ruby, "You can lose the masks." Rook and Ruby looks Ben confused as they take off their masks and are surprised they can breathe as Rook asks Ben, confounded, "How did you know there was a suitable atmosphere?" Ben tells them with a smirk, "Never been a problem before. And since I'm still upright-!" Ben walks for a few steps until he trips and falls on his back with a little yell as Ruby laughs a little.

Rook kneels down seeing a piece of bubble wrap as he picks it up saying as he puts it somewhere on his person, "Interesting." Ruby thought it was cute Rook was interested in it as she and Ben then follow Rook. The cat-like alien turns on the flashlight of his Proto-Tool as all three walk along the scary black-purple hallway that looks veiny and metal. Something is found on the ground and it turns out to be another piece of bubble wrap as Rook picks it up. Rook puts away his Proto-Tool on his back as he asks Ben and Ruby, "Here is another. What does it do?"

So Ben reaches with a hand and pops one of the bubbles causing Rook to be interested in it as he proceeds to pop a few more as Ruby tells Rook with a smile, thinking this was adorable, "It's called bubble wrap. When you order something from someone on earth, they put bubble wrap inside the packages they put the items they are mailing in with them to protect them from getting damaged or destroyed while being delivered. Not to mention it's also pretty fun to pop too."

Ben nods as he tells Rook as they keep moving, "She's right, but the real question is, what's it doing here?" Rook puts it away as they continue walking until they hear a popping sound as Ben motions them to be quiet as all three quickly hide, waiting to see who's on board with them as Ruby sticks with Rook. Ruby is still in Loboan form as all three jump out ready to fight with Ben's hand at the ready on the Omnitrix, Ruby with her bow and arrow turned into a whip and Rook with his Proto-Tool on as the rookie plumber calls out to the bad guys, "Freeze, you scum!"

* * *

Out of the shadows are…the Vreedle Brothers?! This pair of brothers are purple skinned humanoid aliens who are wearing red overalls, belts, black boots, orange gloves, orange hats – one that's turned around for the big one and the normal way for the skinny one – and a jacket for the skinny one, black hair and brown-red eyes. Ben then says in shock of seeing them, "The Vreedle Brothers?!" Ruby growls angrily at the sight of them saying, "Of course! It had to be stupid and stupider!" The skinny Vreedle Brother, known Octagon Vreedle says in shock, but then calms in a Western voice, "Ben Tennyson! And…associates."

The bigger Brother known as Rhomboid Vreedle just says causally with a Western voice, " 'Sup?" Rook gets even angrier just seeing them as Ruby growls even more as Rook tells Ben, "The two lowest beings in the universe!" Ruby growls with her eyes glowing red and a familiar black and red aura around her as she tells Ben, "So low that they made it all the way to the Earth's core and burned up to a crisp on impact!" Rhomboid gets a little upset telling them, "Oh, see, now you both done hurt my fragile feelings. Especially you, Miss Ruby." Octagon then quietly tells his brother, "Boid, remember our recent musings about the inadvisability of surrender, being as we is now fugitives and such?"

Ruby growls angrily as she hears that, knowing what it means as Ben looks at her in concern as Rhomboid tells his brother, "I do indeed recollect such a discussion Octagon. Why?" Octagons sighs annoyed as he and his brother bring out their energy guns with Octagon having one and Rhomboid holding out two as Octagon calls out, "Light'em up, Boid." They begin firing as Rook, Ruby and Ben separate as they hide with Rook with Ruby and Ben by himself as Rook fires at the brothers with his Proto-Tool while Ruby turns her whip back into a bow and arrow and fires arrows at them as Ben calls out to the Omnitrix before slamming it down, "Come on, Omnitrix. Please give me Rath!" As soon as he slam it down, however, Rook and Ruby took a quick glance at Ben, hoping Rath comes out, no matter how much Rook didn't like Rath at the moment. They both stop firing as they look at Ben in shock, realizing he did not turn into Rath. Instead, he turned into Grey Matter.

Ruby wolf snickers saying, "I shoulda seen that one coming." Ben/Grey Matter looks at himself annoyed as he says getting annoyed, "Grey Matter? Oh, man, I have got to get a new manual for this thing!" Ruby nods telling him, "You definitely should, dude. Although, this is pretty funny, and Grey Matter is pretty cute." Rook then quickly fires at the Vreedle Brothers feet, knocking them down until they stand back up as Ben/Grey Matter has an idea as he climbs up to the ceiling until he sees a pipe above the Vreedle brothers and pulls on it letting out water pour onto them. And since their in space, the water freezes the Vreedle Brothers causing Rook and Ruby to be happy with this. Rook then says to himself then to Ruby curiously, "It looks like they are on thin ice. Did I get that right, Ruby?" Ruby nods telling him with a smile, "Yep and with the right opportunity too Rookie."

Rook smiles at this as Ben/Grey Matter drops onto Rhomboids frozen head as he asks the alien criminal, "So, what have you two got to say for yourselves?" So Rhomboid answers from inside as he shivers. "D-d-do you have any hot c-c-chocolate?" And so, a few minutes later, Rook and Ruby carried the frozen brothers to the control room. Ruby managed to free them from the ice with a fire spell, making them warm, but before they could escape, Ruby bound them with a spell saying, "Legare le mani con viti eccellente robuste." Vines appeared out of nowhere binding both brothers hands tying them up. Both Vreedle brothers are facing all three heroes as Rook angrily tells them, "You're both beneath contempt – the worst villains in the galaxy!"

Ruby nods agreeing with an angry face as Rhomboid tells them taking it as a compliment, "Aww, thank you kindly. Especially you, Miss Ruby. It was mighty nice of you to unfreeze me and my brother like that." Ruby growls at that little name as she only wants Rook calling her that, as Rook growls as well as Ben/Grey Matter asks the brothers confused, "Hold on a minute. Since when? I thought you guys became Plumbers?" So Octagon admits to Ben/Grey Matter, "Oh, yeah, about that…" Rook growls angrily at the brothers as he tells Ben/Grey Matter, "These two vermin destroyed the Plumber Academy's ammunition dump!" Ruby growls angrily as well as she tells the alien hero, "Not only that, but they also blew up the Academy itself!" Rhomboid grins stupidly saying, "We blowed it up real good. We couldn't help ourselves." Then Octagon says, "It's in our nature."

Ruby and Rook still growl angrily at them as Rook tells them, "I had to take my final exam in a temporary trailer on an asteroid, thus making me miss being with Ruby on Earth!" Ruby growls as she says, "Not only that, but because of what they did, I got worried, angry and upset when Rook didn't appear two weeks after I left! Do you idiots have any idea how much I've been painfully waiting for Rook to come to Earth and getting to know me and my planet?! When I found out what happened, I wanted to find you idiots and strangle you two, tear you both apart to pieces, and curse you both with the most terrifying spells I know for the next thousand years for making me wait!"

Rook looks at Ruby shocked of this information as he blushes a little as Ben/Grey Matter looks shocked as well, but smirks at this, knowing he was right: Ruby does love Rook. The Vreedle Brothers look a little nervous and scared at Ruby's wrath but they both shrug it off and grin with Rhomboid saying, "Yeah well anyways. The Plumbers have been hunting us down ever since."

Ben/Grey Matter then asks the two idiots about the damaged ship, "Is that why you two hijacked this cruiser – to get back at the Plumbers?" The brothers look at themselves, realizing what they could have done as they then face the heroes as Octagon tells them, "That had not occurred to us." Them Rhomboid says, "We didn't hijack nothin'." Then Octagon tells them, "We was merely scavenging this here random derelict vessel for weapons." Rook, who then says with a proud face tells them, "Aha! Which is when you two blew that hole in the bulkhead!"

But Octagon shakes his head telling them, "That does indeed sound like something we would do, but, oddly enough, we did not." Ruby frown as she reads their auras for any lies, but sighs in reluctance as she tells Ben/Grey Matter and Rook, "Unfortunately, their telling the truth. They didn't cause the damage. Someone else did." Suddenly, a crash is outside as an alarm blares as the screen comes to life showing something flying away from the ship and its revealed to be…the Proto-TRUK? Rook calls out in shock and anger, "My ship!" Ruby gets a little worried about Rook as Rhomboid says, "That ain't us neither." Ben/Grey Matter looks at the controls until he finds the one he's looking for – the tractor beam. He presses it causing an energy ray to shoot towards the Proto-TRUK, pulling towards the ship back to the door where the heroes came in.

* * *

Ben/Grey Matter turns back to normal as he tells Rook and Ruby, "Let's go find out who tried to steal our ride." Before they could leave, Rook brings out his Proto-Tool and powers it on as he tells Ben, "These two abominations are coming with us." Ruby nods determined as the three look to the pair of brothers as Rhomboid motions them to the exit saying, "Apres vu." Ben and Rook look confused as Ruby rolls her eyes telling her partners and Rhomboid, "I think you meant 'Après vous.' It's French for 'after you'." Rhomboid nods, liking he was correct as Ben asks her a little in awe, "You speak French, Rubes?"

Ruby nods telling Ben, "Yeah, while learning under my mom and the Saturdays, I learned how to speak and understand certain languages: French, Spanish, Japanese, Russian and others. I'm still learning though." So Rook, Ben and Ruby motion the Vreedle Brothers outside. Once they get to the door the three teenagers came in earlier, they stand by the doorway with Rook and Ruby on one side and Ben on the other with the Vreedle Brothers standing by. Ben prepares to slam down the Omnitrix while Ruby turns her bow and arrow into a dagger and Rook powers up his Proto-Tool. Finally, the figure appears revealing a villain from Ben's past…Argit?

Argit is basically a giant humanoid porcupine/opossum. He's at Ben's chest as he has an orange, zipped up jacket with yellow accents, orange and yellow shorts, big yellow eyes, black quills for hair and piercings on his ears. Ben then says in shock, "Argit?!" Ruby looks at the alien a little shocked as Argit then tells Ben, realizing who he is as he laughs, "Ben Tennyson? Buddy! Uh, did you cut your hair?" Argit then takes a look at Ruby and whistles appreciatively asking Ben, "Hey, Benji. Where'cha you meet this fine little lady?" Ruby growls telling him a little irked as a vein appears on her head, "Don't even bother rat boy! I'm nobody's play thing." Rook smirks at that as Ben then asks Argit, "What are you doing here?"

Rook then orders Argit aiming his Proto-Tool at him, "Drop it, space vermin!" Argit gets a little angry at that telling Rook as he holds up a red and black man purse, "Hey, back off, tough guy! I have the Annihilarrgh! And I ain't afraid to use it!" Ruby and Rook gasp in shock and fear as Ruby hides behind Rook when they hear that, not noticing the creepy music that played after it was said. Ruby, Rook and both the Vreedle Brothers say in shock and happy tones separately, "The Annihilarrgh?!" The creepy music still goes unnoticed as Ben then asks confused, "The Whataharrgh?!"

* * *

Rook puts his Proto-Tool back on his back for now looking concerned, yet doubtful at this situation as Ruby look worried as Ben asks getting worried, "Spill." So Rook tells Ben, "The Annihilarrgh is just an old legend, like Alien X." Argit smirks saying, "Oh, it's real, alright." Ben nods saying, "So is Alien X." Ruby nods as she says, "Yeah, they're both very real. And this is coming from a girl that's seen cryptids and aliens pretty much her whole life." Argit then motions around them saying, "And look around you all. I recognize this tub from the bedtime stories my mom used to tell me." Rook glares at Argit a little telling him, "Ruby and I know those stories as well, but that is all they are – stories, fantasy."

Ruby gets a tiny bit irked at Rook as she tells him, "Rook, you do realize there is a fairy tale girl standing right here next to you right? If Red Riding Hood exists through me, my mother and our family, then the Annihilarrgh and Alien X have to be real." Rook realizing what he said, blushes a little as he apologizes to Ruby, "My apologies, my friend." Ruby smiles telling Rook, "It's okay Rookie, you're forgiven." So Argit then tells everyone, "The little red wolf girl is right about the Annihilarrgh being real. Because here we are on the very ship of legend. I swiped a ride and flew up here as soon as this thing appeared in the sky."

Both Ruby and Rook growl at what Argit called her as Rook then asks Argit a little annoyed and confused, "So you're the individual who smashed into the side of the ship." Argit then tells them a little nervously and ashamed of himself, "Uh, that was a parallel-parking error in judgment. I don't do a lot of docking." Octagon, who loved the destruction, tells Argit impressed, "That there was some mighty fine pointless destruction, son." Then Rhomboid tells his brother, "I wants the Annihilarrgh, Octagon, so's we can do some pointless destruction." Ben has had enough of this as his whistles loudly gaining everyone's attention as he asks them, "You all know what would be great? An explanation, because I didn't grow up in outer space!"

So Rook tells Ben about the Annihilarrgh, "You see Ben, there was an ancient pan-dimensional civilization – the Contumelia. Their favorite pastime was flitting from parallel universe to parallel universe, scaring the locals." Ben frown saying sarcastically, "Oh, that's mature." Then Ruby takes over saying, "That's true, but things went bad if they came to hate a universe." Argit nods as he then tells Ben, "Then they'd bring out their piece of resistance, the Annihilarrgh!" Ben then asks a little annoyed of the wording choice, "Who comes up with these names?"

Octagon then tells Ben, "Its full name's longer, but once it goes off, you only have time to say the first part." Rhomboid then emphasizes it saying, "Boom." So then Ben asks Ruby and Rook, "So, where are the Contumelia now?" So Rook tells Ben, "Unfortunately they died off eons ago." Ruby nods telling Ben, "The legends say their deserted ship drifts from cosmos to cosmos, bearing a weapon that can actually destroy the entire universe with just the push of a button." Rook places a hand on her shoulder as she smiles a little as Rook continues telling Ben, "Apparently, the stories were true – about the ship at least."

Argit holds up the Annihilarrgh saying, "And the Annihilarrgh." So Ben tells himself, not believing a word of it, "A ghost ship with a doomsday device on board? Puh-leaze! What kind of idiot would believe that?" Rhomboid speaks up saying, "I believes it." Ruby rolls her eyes as she tells Ben, "I ain't an idiot, but I know that I believe in it. Alien beings that are very superstitious believe in the tale. Especially coming from a half alien that's a Red Riding Hood Sorceress that has seen a lot of things in her life that are believed to be nothing more than mere fantasy and are suppose to not really exist, I believe in anything and everything." Then Octagon speaks up saying, "It is indeed a seemingly implausible yet entirely true tale as Miss Ruby has said."

Suddenly, the ship starts to shake as they hear an explosion. Outside of the ship is a green and gold ship firing missiles at the black Contumelia ship as inside the green and gold spaceship is an alien race known as the Incursians. Ben fought with them in the past as these aliens are frog humanoids. On the throne inside of the ship is Emperor Milleous, as he tells his men, "Lock onto that scow and board her. Anyone tries to cross you, fry them." The green and gold warship lets out purple-pink energy ropes against the Contumelia ship pulling them in as Rook, Ben, Ruby and Argit look out from a window as Argit expresses concern saying, "Uh-oh." Rook then tells them, "An Incursian warship. We cannot let them get the Annihilarrgh, whether it works or not."

* * *

Ben shakes his head telling them, "There's no way that, uh, whatchamacallit's real, but the Incursians are, and they're bad news." Ben turns around telling the Vreedle Brothers, "Guess who's gonna help us get rid of them." Rook then asks Ben hoping he heard wrong, "You are not serious." Ruby nods getting angry as she tells Ben, "Yeah, you have to be joking! Tell us you're joking!?" So Ben tells them, "No joke Rubes, three petty crooks, one froggy dictator – you do the math." Rook looks confused as he asks Ben, "Four or two? Or are-are we adding or subtracting?" Ruby shakes her head as she facepalms saying, "Expression, Rookie." Rook understands now saying, "Ah, of course." Ben then tells everyone, "Okay, we split up and run off the Incursians. And we'll deal with this a-anni-!"

Rook, the Vreedle Brothers, Argit and Ruby tell Ben, correcting him, "Annihilarrgh!" Ben brushes that off when he notices Argit trying to leave as he stops him telling him, "Not so fast, Argit. You're not leaving my sight." Argit smirks nervously telling him, "Wouldn't think of it. Come on." Suddenly, the door explodes as Incursian soldiers appear with Emperor Milleous appears behind them with his purple, black and gold robe on him. Everyone of the Incursians is holding a blaster as Milleous calls out, "Where are you? I haven't got all day! Well, actually, I do, but, irregardless, show yourself!"

* * *

About a couple minutes before the Incursians came in, everyone split up with Ben and Argit, Rook and Ruby, then Rhomboid and Octagon. Ben and Argit are hiding in a hallway as two Incursian soldiers are walking as Ben looks through the Omnitrix asking it before slamming it down, "Please, Omnitrix, give me something I can use." Ben then turns into Spidermonkey, as he tells Argit, "You! Stay put!" Ben/Spidermonkey spits out the webbing from his tail at Argit making him stick to a wall as Argit complains saying, "Is this really necessary?" Ben/Spidermonkey doesn't listen to him as he leaps out in front of the two Incursian soldiers and orders them, "Put them down, or I put you down!" They prepare to fire but Ben/Spidermonkey blasts the guns with webbing, pulling them away as he blasts at the soldiers, making them stick to the wall.

The alien hero comes up to them, telling them, "Hang in there, guys." He squeals like a monkey and leaves to the hallway where Argit is as he says, "Okay, Argit, let's go!" But when he got there, Argit had broken free and is gone. He complains saying, "Oh, man!"

* * *

With Rook and Ruby, they are waiting in what appears to be a storage room where four Incursian soldiers come in. They hide on the pipes as both leap up taking down two of them by knocking them out as they get away with flips before they got blasted by the other two. Rook goes to the wall and leaps to a cable swinging over to the crates as Ruby uses her parkour training as she vaults over crates and climbs up crates by running toward them, then jumps and pushes off the walls of said crates with her feet to reach to the top. They both quickly leap into big tubes in the ceiling. Then they switch tubes as they fall beside the two remaining soldiers, then leaped just as they fired, knocking them out as Ruby and Rook land on the floor unharmed.

Ruby laughs a little telling Rook, "That was fun, huh? That was good exercising." Rook smiles at her as he then asks himself, "Now, what would Ben say?" He then knows what to say as he tells the soldiers, "Lying down on the job, are we?" Rook chuckles as Ruby laughs at the joke as Rook says, "Huh, I rather like that." The Incursian groans from beneath him at the joke as Ruby kicks the soldier in the side as she stood up telling him, "Hey, that was a good quip, froggy!" Rook smiles in gratitude as he stands up, asking Ruby, "I wonder how everyone else is doing?" As they wander this, they had no idea why Milleous and Argit came to the Contumelis ship…

* * *

And this is the end of So Long, and Thanks for All the Smoothies Part 1! Here are the translations to the Latin spells or spell you have seen in this chapter:

'Legare le mani con viti eccellente robuste', means 'Tie their hands with super sturdy vines.'

Stay tuned for the second part sometime in the next few days. The next chapter will explain why.


	15. Chapter 15 SLATFATS Part 2

Welcome to the second part of So Long, and Thanks for All the Smoothies! I hope you all liked the first part of it. Now, I have some news for you all. No, I won't abandon this story like a few others from the past. It's just that starting today, I am going to take a few weeks off of writing to relax and refresh my mind. In other words, I need to take a break from writing. That's why I worked so hard and quick on part 1 and 2. So until the next chapter comes up, please continue reading this story along with my past stories.

Now onto the next chapter...This new chapter includes the rest of the first part which includes bad guy beating, bonding, near universe ending and among other things. WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I hope that you like this chapter! Please review if you wish!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 15: So Long, and Thanks for All the Smoothies Part 2

Continuing from last time, an Incursian soldier is walking in a hallway when suddenly, he's shot at from an energy gun, making his blaster be destroyed, and his clothes un-fastened and damaged, revealing he is wearing Emperor Milleous boxers. Weird, huh? Octagon appears in front of the soldier telling him smartly while aiming his gun at and walking up to him, "Now, I expect y'all are thinking, 'Did he fire six shots or five?' Well, amidst all the gratuitous foofaraw, I has done lost track myself. So y'all has gots to ask yourself one question. 'Does I feel lucky?' Well, does ya…frog?" He gets into the soldier's face at the last part as the Incursian soldier freaks out as he back up, knocking into Rhomboid as the big Vreedle Brother hits the soldier in the head, knocking him out.

Octagon tells Rhomboid annoyed that he didn't get his answer, "Oh, Boid, you didn't let him answer." Rhomboid then tells Octagon feeling annoyed as well, complains saying, "Aw, he ain't no fun. He fell right over."

* * *

With Argit, he's walking down a hallway with the Annihilarrgh on his shoulder, but behind him, he hears Incursian soldiers coming. Argit quickly hides in a room and closes the door. Once he's sure they're gone, he tries to open the door, but its jammed as he calls out for anybody to help him get out, but no one answers.

* * *

With Ben, he's back at the Control Room, waiting for any of the Incursians to come in. Finally, an Incursian does come in, but its Emperor Milleous. Ben makes his presence known asking him, "Looking for something?" Ben leans on a machine and crosses his arms as Emperor Milleous, recognizes the hero telling him, "Yeah, the Annihilarrgh. You here by yourself, kid?" The Emperor aims his blaster at Ben as the alien hero walks over telling him as he cracks his knuckles, "Just me and you, mano ah froggo." Emperor Milleous taps something on his collar as he tells Ben, "That's what you think, tadpole." By pressing the button, Incursian soldiers appear as Ben smirks as he says, "Four against one.? Dude, I love those kinds of odds." Ben then slams down the Omnitrix turning into NRG.

Ben/NRG laughs telling himself, "NRG? NRG is G-R-E-A-T!" The soldiers fire at him, but they deflected off of him as Ben/NRG releases radioactive blasts through the holes in his helmet at their guns, completely melting them. The Incursians, seeing there's nothing they can do for the moment raise their hands in surrender just as Ruby and Rook come running in as Rook asks the alien hero, "There you are, Ben! Where is Argit?" Ben/NRG, who is unsure how to answer asks Ruby and Rook suspiciously, "Well, where are the Vreedle Brothers?" Suddenly, Argit appears behind the Incursian soldiers as Ben/NRG who seems relieved says, "Ah, there's my guy!" But then a twist happens in this adventure as Argit angrily tells Emperor Milleous, "You double-dealing salamander!"

Emperor Milleous then tells Argit somewhat quietly, "Leave us discuss this matter later." Argit shakes his head telling him, "No, leave us discuss this matter now! We had a deal, frog legs. You said you'd buy the Annihilarrgh from me!" Rook and Ruby then say in shock, "YOU WHAT?!" Ruby starts to panic as she pulls at her Loboan mane saying, "He's freakin' insane!" Argit doesn't listen as he tells the evil Emperor, "Now, in light of your little attack here, I'm guessing you didn't plan on honoring your commitments?" Emperor Milleous sneers at him telling the rat alien as he shrugs his shoulders, "I conquer worlds for a living. What'd you expect?"

Ben/NRG then grabs at Argit and pulls him up to him and asks him angrily, "Where is the device?!" Ruby then gets in Argit's face telling him angrily and snarling with glowing red eyes and her black and red aura spewing from her, "Spill it, vermin! Or else you may leave me no choice but to skin you alive and chew on your bones!" Argit whimpers and gulps nervously, completely terrified of the angry Loboan girl, as he says, "Well, you see…I was locked in a storage closet with a jammed door. I had called out for help, but then the door opened. So…I may have possibly, maybe and accidentally gave it to the Vreedle Brothers." Ruby looks shocked and even more angry as Rook asks Argit trying to remain calm, "You did not."

Ruby starts to growl angrily with fangs coming out as Argit says, "The Vreedle Brothers have left the building." Ben/NRG is getting angry as well as he yells at Argit, "With what might be the most destructive device in the universe?!" Ruby growls telling Argit, "Their the most stupidest idiots in the universe and you gave it to them?! You are an absolute, undeniable, and complete idiot!" Something happens outside, as the Vreedle Brothers ship – that looks like a garbage truck – has left and it is heading to Earth as everyone watches. Then Ben/NRG tells Argit even more angry as he yells, "And they're heading to Earth with it! ARGIT!" So Argit then tells Ben annoyed, "Oh, like this is my fault?"

* * *

Ruby gasps in sudden fear as she whimpers and shakes in panic as she says, "Mom and Dad! If that button is pressed, my mom will be gone and I'll never be able to find dad! And the Saturdays too! Everything and everyone in the universe, including us, will be completely destroyed!" Rook places an arm around her shoulders as he looks at her in concern and tries to keep her steady as Ben/NRG throws Argit at a wall as he turns back to normal. Ben then says to everyone, "We've got to catch the Vreedle Brothers before they set off that, uh, t-t-the…" Everyone in the room tells Ben annoyed, "Annihilarrgh!" Ben scoffs saying, "Whatever. I still say it's not a real threat. But I don't want to take any chances when it comes to the Earth. Ben starts to walk away as Rook asks Ben, "What about the Incursians?"

Ben grabs a blaster that wasn't destroyed and throws it at Argit telling the rat, "Argit, keep Emperor Milleous from escaping. Emperor Milleous, if you escape, don't hurt Argit – too much." Ben and Rook walk to the exit, but Ruby walks over to Argit and holds him by his jacket, very closely to his throat, telling him angrily in an ominous voice with a slight growl, "Listen rat scum! I may love all animals, but you I don't like at all. If the idiot brothers activate the Annihilarrgh, I will come after you in whatever afterlife we end up in and I will make your afterlife a living hell for all eternity!" Argit gulps in fear as Ruby drops him as she walks over to Ben and Rook who stare at her in shock and fear, as Ruby keeps on walking, Rook asks Ben quietly in fear, "Was she like this during our Megawatt case when I was knocked unconscious?" Ben shakes his head telling him, "No, back on the Megawatt case? She was slightly worse."

What the three teens didn't know, was that Emperor Milleous managed to steal his blaster back from Argit with his frog tongue. A few minutes later, the three teens got into the Proto-TRUK as Rook drives, trying to chase down the warship. But the warship – where it is now controlled by the Incursians – appears behind the Proto-TRUK as it tries to shoot at the heroes vehicle along with another one. Rook presses a button as outside of the Proto-TRUK at the bottom, a feature known as the Tri-Barrel Blaster Turret as the device shoots at the warship. But Rhomboid from his and his brother's ship, brings out a blaster of his own and begins shooting as he calls out excitedly, "Ooh-wee! I've been a-waiting to blow something up all day!"

Massive and intense shoot-outs begin between ships until they reach Earth's atmosphere and break free to the Earth itself as they remain in the sky above the buildings of Bellwood as the Proto-TRUK chases the Vreedle Brother's ship, taking down a gargoyle in the process. The Incursian warship shoots at the Proto-TRUK from behind him as Ben calls out to his two partners in slight fear, "Ruby! Rook!" Rook does the same yelling Ben's name, as Ben tells them, "We can't keep this up!"

He was right as one of the blasts hits the ship as Rook tells Ben, "You are right about that. We are going down! Hang on!" The Proto-TRUK descends about to crash as Ruby buckles up as she calls out, "I never wanted to go out like this! I wanted to explore the universe and live happily ever after with the one I fell in love with!" Rook apparently didn't hear as he tried to figure out what to do and Ben, despite their situation, smirked at what she said.

The warship manages to make a hit on the Vreedle Brother's ship, causing it to crash down near a Mr. Smoothy, just missing a mother and her son who got away. Luckily, Rook managed to land the Proto-TRUK near the ship as Octagon and Rhomboid falls out of theirs. Rook, Ben and Ruby walk out of the Proto-TRUK as Ben tells Rook almost looking green, "Next time, I drive." Ruby then quietly tells Ben, "You dare repeat any of what I said in there to Rook, I will cast a spell that will erase chili fries from existence, and even smoothies!" Ben nods freaked out as the Incursian warship lands nearby with Emperor Milleous, four soldiers and Argit come walking out as Rook tells Ben, getting worried, "This looks bad." Ben nods as the three teens look to the Vreedle Brothers as Ben says, "And it's about to get worse."

Ruby growls saying a little angry, "Yeah, we're all about to die by idiots." Octagon then calls out to coming Incursians and their prisoner, "Attention, Amphibians. Boid and I hereby suggest that y'all surrender your weapons, or we shall be obliged to use this." Rhomboid takes an item out of the bag and opens his hands revealing a…small black box? Rook and Ruby gasp in shock as Ruby says in awe, "I knew it was real!" Rhomboid tries to find something on it as he says, "Now where do you reckon the 'on' button is?" Ben asks Rook and Ruby, a little disappointed, "That's…it?" Rook, is also confused as he says, "I admit, it's far less impressive in person." Ben then also says still not impressed, "Not a very convincing doomsday device." But Ruby says otherwise, feeling a little scared, "Maybe, but have you two heard the expression, 'big things come in small packages'? It has to be it."

So Argit asks for Ben's help saying, "Ben and friends, do something!" Rook then grabs his Proto-Tool and turns it on, ordering Octagon and Rhomboid, "Please, put that thing down before it goes off!" So Octagon tells Rook as Rhomboid still tries to find an on button, "Well, sir, that there only further piques our interest, seeing as what we enjoys most is blowing stuff up." Rhomboid nods as he says, "Real good."

But Emperor Milleous walks over along with the soldiers and Argit as the Emperor says, "If anyone's gonna do any threatening around here, it's gonna be me!" Argit whimpers as Ben tells the rat alien, "Just be cool, Argit. We've got this." But Argit snaps and in panic, yells out while running over, "I can't take it anymore!" He runs over and tackles Rhomboid to the ground, trying to grab the Annihilarrgh as Ben facepalms telling his two partners, "See, that's not being cool. That's the opposite of being cool." Argit finally gets it, but Emperor Milleous and his soldiers grab it as Rook and Ruby leap onto them as they all wrestle trying to grab the device.

Ben also joined the fray as he grabbed it, but Rhomboid grabbed it from Ben as he runs away saying, "I gots it!" Ruby growls saying, "Oh, no you don't!" Ruby quickly turns her bow and arrow into a whip and uses it to stop Rhomboid as the Annihilarrgh falls from his hand as it flings into the air as everyone gasps with fear, hoping it doesn't activate. It falls to the ground, not opening as everyone sighs with relief as Ruby falls to her knees saying, "Oh thank the moon, I was worried for a minute there!"

However, it opened as the button inside is glowing and beeping as Rhomboid calls out, "Uh, that is what y'all call your basic countdown to destruction." Ruby slack jaws as she stand and angrily exclaims, "You've got to be kidding me!" Then Octagon tells everyone, "Ergo, I recommend that we all repair to a safe distance from destruction." Argit gets angry as he tells Octagon, "There is no safe distance, you idiots! Its going to destroy the universe!" Octagon frowns realizing the severity of the situation as he says, "Clearly, we did not think this through."

Emperor Milleous walks over to the Annihilarrgh asking everyone, "How do you shut this thing off?!" He tries to shake it as Argit is panicking telling everyone, "Why are you all standing around?! Somebody has to stop this thing from happening! The universe is where I keep all of my stuff!" Ruby then quickly grabs Ben and shakes him, as she tells him getting panicked herself, "Ben? Now would be a good time to use Alien X! I don't want to lose everyone I love! And one of those people you know the reason why! I still have to find my dad! And you're the only one who has the one alien that can save us all!"

Ben nods seriously and determined as he looks to his Omnitrix and asks it, "All right, listen, Omnitrix, I don't want Goop or Stinkfly. Just give me something I can use to diffuse this thing so we can all get on with our lives!" Ben slams down the Omnitrix and in an ironic twist of fate, Ben turns into the right and perfect alien for the job…Alien X! Alien X is a humanoid alien aka a Celestialsapien. His entire body is solid black with white hands, tiny bright white dots all over his body like stars, green eyes with no pupils, three horns in his forehead, and a big chin with the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. Basically, he looks very heroic as Rook and Ruby gasp with excitement and awe as Rook says impressed, "Alien X! It is real!"

Ruby smirks as she tells Rook, "Told ya so! I knew he was real!" Ruby quickly runs over to the front of Ben/Alien X and grabs a camera from her pocket of her Proto-Tech Armor, and snaps a quick picture of him before returning to Rook as Argit walks over to Ben/Alien X as he says, "So, this is Alien X, huh?" Argit hits his fist on the body, as Ben/Alien X appears to not be able to move. Ruby notices this as she says to Rook, "So that's why he never uses it. It's awesome and he doesn't work!" Suddenly, the beeping of the Annihilarrgh goes faster as Argit panics saying, "Great, we're toast!"

The Annihilarrgh flashes as it rises up and lets loose purple-pink energy as it destroys the Earth turning everything black, as if it was erased. Ruby looks scared as she hugs Rook close as Rook does the same holding her tight. Ruby looks and tries to tell Rook, "Rook, there's something I have to tell you!" Rook prepares to ask her what it was, but the Annihilarrgh had already erased them. It erased and got rid of everyone as the Earth slowly starts to disappear as well as the entire universe. But the only one still standing is Ben/Alien X!

* * *

Inside the mind of Alien X, there is Ben and two gigantic faces in a starry sky world. The two faces are like the conscience of Alien X. One face is angry, masculine and a man, and the other is happy, feminine and a woman. The woman face known as Serena gasps in joy seeing Ben as she tells the man face aka Belicus, "Oh, look, Belicus. Ben Tennyson has come to visit us again." Belicus scoffs saying as he turns around, "Great. Tell me when he leaves." The universe starts to disappear as Ben asks the two faces in shock, "Wait! The universe really is being destroyed?!" He turns around seeing the mind of Alien X is really being destroyed aka the universe as he looks shocked, scared and afraid as he hears a lot of quiet screaming, realizing that all living beings are being destroyed…including his friends and family.

Belicus groans asking, "Must they make so much noise?" Serena frowns as she says, "It is futile but a bit sad to see them go." Ben realizes that he has to save the universe again, but he needs the two faces to agree with him so he asks them, "Belicus, Serena, you got to let me use Alien X to stop the Annihilaargh!" Ben didn't even notice he finally got the word right as Belicus tells him, "Oh, it's too late for that." Serena nods telling Ben, "He is right. I can sense your disappointment."

Ben is starting to get angry and pissed, as he yells at them, "Disappointment?! That's the universe! It's everything I know! There has to be another way!" Ben suddenly has an idea as he tells both faces, "Alien X can fix this! If natural disasters can be fixed as they happen due to Alien X's power, then can it save this universe?!" Serena then tells Ben, "Alien X can do many things. We just both have to agree to it." So Serena asks Belicus nicely to do this, and Belicus sighs irritably saying, "Fine, but the next time the universe and everything in it is destroyed, don't come crying to me." And so with lightning, both faces use their power of Alien X and make the being outside of the mind space move and recreate the universe with the stars on its body floating as each one recreates the universe, including Earth.

* * *

Everything has been recreated, even Ben's friends and enemies who were gone before have been returned. Ben/Alien X returned to normal as he was in shock of what he did, but then he looks down, realizing he's wearing a hoodie! The hoodie is white and green with green stripes in some places and a green 10 on the front. Emperor Milleous appears behind him and grabs the Annihilarrgh as he asks in shock, "No boom?" Rhomboid comes over and grabs it and complains saying, "Oh, it's a dud!" So he drops it on the ground and crushes it with his foot.

Rook and Ruby, who realized that they were hugging, let go as they turn away from each other while blushing. They both calm down as Rook then ask Ruby confused, "Ruby, you said you had something to tell me. What was it?" Ruby blushes bright red as she tells him shaking her head, "It was nothing! Nothing you need to know about right now." She turns away, not knowing what to do as Argit walks over and asks the Emperor, "Well, well, well, too bad about that. But I did get it for you, Milleous, and a deal's a deal, so how about that half ton of taydenite you owe me?"

Emperor Milleous snaps his fingers as his soldiers aim their new blasters at Argit as he realizes he lost his deal as he walks away saying, "Or we could just call it even." But as he walked away, he bumped into Rook and Ruby as a couple minutes later, Argit was handcuffed and received a painful aura blast from Ruby, Emperor Milleous and his soldiers left Earth, and the three teenagers and Argit got smoothies as Ruby got an Apple Pie Cinnamon smoothie. As Argit slurps his smoothie, Ben had told Rook, Ruby and Argit of what happened when the Annihilarrgh went off. Of course, Rook doesn't believe it, but Ruby on the other hand listened with rapt attention as Rook finally tells Ben, "That is…difficult to believe."

So Ben tells them ecstatically, "I know, right? I was too late to save the universe, so I used Alien X to make a whole new one." Argit, doesn't believe it either as he tells Ben, "Yeah, not buying it. Nothing's different." Ben smiles telling them, "Of course not. I made an exact copy of every single little thing in the universe, including all of you!" Rook looks doubtful of this as does Argit as Ruby asks Ben, "I knew Alien X was real. And doing all that? That's just incredible! And now I know why you never used it. Serena and Belicus are way too stubborn. But still, thank you, Ben." Ben nods as Rook still looks doubtful as he tells Ben, "So you have said, Ben. And even if you believe otherwise Ruby, I am sorry, but I have no memory of this. What is more likely – that you had a panic-induced hallucination…" Then Argit continues asking, "Or that oh-so-special you are the only thing that's left of the entire universe?"

Ben smirks telling both boys, "Fine. Don't believe me. I'm just glad Ruby believes it. After all, I did it. I saved the universe again. For me, that's all that matters. You two should be thanking me, like Ruby did." Ruby grins as Rook and Argit still look doubtful as Ben slurps his smoothie, but then stops as he says, feeling something's wrong, "Doesn't taste the same." The day was over as Ruby went back home to her mother and her night was perfectly normal. Her mother was happy that her adventure went well. Before Ruby turned in for the night, she took out her camera, and on it...Was a picture of Alien X. Ruby smiled as she stared at the picture knowing Ben really was telling the truth and whispers while looking at the picture and before looking up at the sky outside her bedroom window, "Thank you Ben Tennyson. We all really owe you a lot for this one..."

* * *

And this is the end of this chapter! This one was fun and hard to do but I hope you love it. No Latin spells for this chapter.

Stay tuned for the next chapter sometime in a few weeks.


	16. Chapter 16 Hot Stretch Part 1

Welcome to a fun new chapter for you all to like, love and enjoy! Again, updates will be slow, but enough about that. Just enjoy reading this chapter. I'm back from my break! I really needed it!

Now onto the next chapter...Again, this new chapter includes bonding, bad guy fighting, and Ruby and Rook fluff. WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I hope that you like this chapter! Please review if you wish!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art. For this chapter only, there is brief mention of someone from the Disney movie, The Incredibles, which I do not own at all.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 16: Hot Stretch Part 1

It has been a few days since the 'destruction of the universe in which no one but Ruby believes Ben incident'. Since then, Ruby has kept the picture of Alien X a secret from Rook. Ruby believes that Rook will find out that the alien is in fact real when the time comes. When she had told Ben about the picture, he became happy that he now knew the reason why Ruby believed him. So for now, both teens will keep this a secret from Rook until if Alien X is needed once again, which Ben is hoping never happens again. Since then, Ruby finished a few wood sculptures of Rook and even started to play guitar, because she loves how it sounds. Since the incident, Rook has been wondering what Ruby wanted to tell him during that adventure. He hasn't been able to figure it out since then. Did Ruby find out about the flower he keeps in his pocket? Did she find out he secretly kissed her at the Plumber Academy?

He doesn't know, and that's what's been on his mind for the past few days. Rook will figure it out even if it kills him. As for Ben, he has a feeling what Ruby wanted to tell Rook. But Ben knows that Ruby will tell him eventually, maybe not today, but hopefully some day soon… Now onto the real adventure…

* * *

It's sometime in early March, as its still during the winter/spring, except it's a lot hotter! Right now, Bellwood is experiencing a massive heat wave where it will last until Sunday, making it bad for Ruby because of her Loboan fur and Goth clothes making her really hot! No pun intended. A crime is taking place in the middle of the street as something was taken from the Coriolanus Labs in Bellwood, as right now there is a high-speed police pursuit through downtown as police cars are going after the villain as sirens blare throughout the street. The criminal in question is leaping from roof to roof as they follow her from the ground. This villain is light pink skinned with dark pink hair with a strip of it coming from the side of the hair where the ears are, and the rest pointed up, purple eyes, purple marks on her face, big light blue eyebrows, a purple mask and purple winter gear on during the summer?

The criminal keeps on leaping on the roofs while the backpack-like device is strapped to her back as it is cylindrical in shape. She leaps and swings on a flagpole as she continues running when suddenly the police cars are automatically stopped on the ground as it turns out that a semi was in an accident as its turned over, cutting the police off from the villain. But luckily they are going to get help. As behind the police cars, the Proto-TRUK stops and parked as Ben, Ruby and Rook come out of it as the policeman in charge says to Ben, "Ben Tennyson!" Ben and Ruby look up to see the criminal still leaping over the rooftops as Ruby smirks telling Ben, "Finally, a female villain! Let's do this thing, Benji!"

Ben nods as he and Ruby run toward building as Ben calls out to the policeman, "Thanks, Chief!" They didn't hear his reply as Ben, slams down the Omnitrix turning into Crashhopper as Ruby turns Loboan as she leaps, latching onto Ben's/Crashhopper's back as he leaps from police car to police car until he lands on the building and hops to another. Rook from below and near the police officer, tells him, "We will take it from here, sir." As Rook starts to run, the police officer tells him, "Careful. She stole some kind of fusion weapon thing." Rook nods telling him, I am a Plumber, Officer. We are always careful." Rook then runs, hoping to catch up to his partners. As soon as Ben/Crashhopper lands at a building where the criminal is, Ruby leaps off and starts running beside him as Ben/Crashhopper tries to slash the villain, but she dodges and continues running.

Then Ruby tries to slash at the villain with her wooden bow turned dagger, but she dodges again. They leap through a construction site as Ben/Crashhopper smashes a part of it, but she gets away from it with stretchy elastic powers? Ruby gasps at this saying, "Stretchy elastic powers?! She's like the one person in that disney movie with the superhero family!" The villain leaps to a concrete beam stretched to the buildings, seeing she has nowhere to go as Ben/Crashhopper tells her, "At the end of your rope, huh?" The villain smirks as she looks down for a moment then looks up at them as she taunts Ben/Crashhopper with a motion of her hand saying, "Not ever." Ruby smirks at that as Ben/Crashhopper looks a little shocked as Ruby tells her partner, "I think I might actually like fighting this villain."

Ben/Crashhopper charges for her as Ruby does as well, but the villain leaps off as both heroes are in the air, but just as the villain leaped off, her mask fell off revealing a young feminine face as Ben/Crashhopper looks at her in awe as Ruby looks at her confused. Both teenage heroes are now falling to their doom as the villain uses her stretchy powers to reach the concrete bar and bungees to it, as she is safe.

* * *

As both heroes fall to their doom, Ruby dives to Ben/Crashhopper as she calls out, "Aura angelus pennas!" Suddenly, angel wings made out of red aura appear out of Ruby's back as she dives toward her comrade and grabs him as she pulls up with her wings as she hovers until she lands nearby the pool they were about to fall into. Ben/Crashhopper turns to Ruby as he smirks saying, "A wolf girl with aura angel wings. Now I've seen everything!" Ruby laughs at that as the aura wings disappear, until the pink skinned villain calls out to them saying, "You might have the power, Ben Tennyson and Ruby Bloodmoon, but I got the reach." Suddenly her pack opens as a small red glowing ball falls out to the ground below as Ben/Crashhopper and Ruby go down to grab it as Rook runs over to get it. Ruby and Ben/Crashhopper got their first as Ruby reaches out to grab it, but Rook quickly pulls her away from it, holding her close as he tells them, "Do not touch it!"

Ruby looks at Rook stunned as she starts to blush as the red glowing ball starts melting through the road until the villain appears grabbing it, but getting no damage from it from above thanks to her stretchy powers. The villainess calls out to the shape shifting teens, "It's been an honor, you two, but I don't think the bug form suits you at all, Ben." Ruby calls out with a yell, "Although I love and protect animals, I gotta agree with you there, girlfriend!" The villainess smirks as she leaps away with a good-bye. But Ben and Rook who had looked shocked, sneered as Ruby leaps onto Ben/Crashhopper's back as he leaps up to catch her as Rook watched from below, still shocked. Rook follows with using his grappling hook, but she is nowhere to be seen near the pool at the top of the building.

Ben/Crashhopper asks Rook, "Okay. So, the girl took the fusion device where now?" Rook uses his Proto-Tool to figure out where it is as they follow the signature to a tunnel that goes to Undertown. Ruby pants in exhaustion and thirst as the heat is starting to kill her as she pants out, "I officially…hate this…weather!" Ruby nearly falls to her knees until Rook grabs her and holds her close as he tells Ruby, "I know you do, my friend. But try and hold on until we apprehend the villainess." Ruby pants and nods as she leans on Rook as he asks Ben/Crashhopper, "Are you going to stay like that?" Ben/Crashhopper shrugs his shoulders telling him, "Just 'til the Omnitrix times out."

Ruby asks as she pants, "How long will that take?" Ben/Crashhopper shrugs once more saying, "Uh, 15 minutes or so?" He turns back to normal after he said it as Rook smirks telling Ben, "I think our thief appreciates this Ben Tennyson a lot more." Ruby laughs a little saying, "Yeah, who wouldn't?" Ruby still pants as she turns her cloak into a salmon red hooded bolero as Ben looks confused with Rook telling Ben, "She did express interest in some other form of yours, and I doubt that it was Crashhopper." Ben finally understands as he tells Rook and Ruby, "She must have meant Ditto. According to all the fan sites, that's my cutest alien." Ruby shrugs her shoulders telling Ben, "For some reason, I doubt it. You never know when you might get an even cuter alien."

Rook smirks again telling Ben, "That is not at all what she meant." Ben and Ruby finally get it as Ruby blushes at that as Ben scoffs saying, "Right! 'Cause you know everything about girls. You don't even know that a certain girl has certain romantic feelings for you!" Ruby gasps in fear as Ben covers his mouth realizing what he just said as Rook looks confused, asking, "Wait, what?" Suddenly, Rook's device beeps as everyone goes serious mode as they step in front of the tunnel as Rook tells them, "We have something." All three teenagers walk inside with Ben and Ruby at the lead as Ruby glares angrily at Ben as Ben tells her nervously, "Sorry, Ruby. It slipped out. Maybe he'll forget about it." Ruby turns to look at Rook as she mumbles worriedly, "I hope so. I don't think I'm ready to reveal it just yet, but if it happens today, it happens today."

Ben nods as all three make it into Undertown as Rook's device continues to beep. They look around trying to find her, but they don't see her. But then Ben sees something on a stand as the three teenagers walk over to it where the beeping was taking them to, but Ruby shakes her head telling Ben, "Nope, just an old thermo-electric generator." Ben looks at her confused as he asks her, "How do you know that?" Ruby smiles telling him, "While at Plumber Academy, I learned about things mechanics wise for alien technology along with what I already learned from Zak's dad about regular mechanics." Rook nods as he tells Ben, "In other words, this particular device is space junk."

The alien vendor comes up and tells them, "Not junk. A bargain! Twelve taydens, please." Ben shakes his head disappointedly as Rook looks equally disappointed as he turns his device off. Seeing the water bottles, Ruby pays for two of them with her own money as Ben and Ruby grab one each as they drink the water, before deciding to pour it on their heads due to the worser heat in Undertown. Ruby pants in exhaustion due to the heat as Ben exclaims, "It's even hotter down here than it is up there!" The water even starts to steam up as Ruby says while panting, "I know, right?! I didn't think that was possible! I'm just thankful that when mom and dad built our home all those years ago, they built a very large indoor pool underground. I'm going there as soon as we're done with this mission!" Ben gasps in happiness as he begs her, "Can we come with you?! Please?!"

Ruby thinks on it saying, "I'll have to ask my mom, but sure!" Ben cheers at that as Ruby smiles as Rook starts to work on his device asking them, "That would be a great idea to cool ourselves down, although I do not need it. I can handle a certain amount of intense heat unlike you two. But back to the matter at hand, perhaps I can recalibrate-!" Ruby and Ben look up for a moment as they see a certain villainess running on the pipes above as Ruby tells Ben, "Uh, Rookie? I don't think you need to bother." Rook looks up to where she is looking and understands as he sees the villainess. The three run to a wall as Rook uses his grappling hook from his Proto-Tool onto a pipe with Ruby and Ben hanging onto him. Once they get there, they separate and start going after her.

* * *

They run on the boards connecting to a tunnel as the villainess stops the tunnel which says 'Dead End and Construction' as Ben calls out to her with an order, "Hold it right there!" The girl turns around, pulling her hood down as she see's Ben's human form as she says in awe, "You turned human!" Ben smirks saying, "I do that." Ruby looks between Ben and the girl and can't help but feel something forming even though she knows Ben has a girlfriend. Rook then orders the girl by telling her, "Hand over the fusion engine, please." The girl smiles telling him, "What if I told you I couldn't?" Ruby smirks telling the girl, "You're going to have to, girlie."

Ben nods telling the girl, "She's right. This isn't a matter of 'could.' Three of us, one of you." The girl backs away asking them, "You sure you won't just trust me on this? No?" She backs away until she falls to another pipe and breaks out into a run as Ben does the same. Rook and Ruby stay where they are as Rook uses his Proto-Tool to aim for the girl while Ruby grabs her wooden bow and tries to aim for the girl as well. Rook then fires with his energy gun at a pipe, taking it down but the girl manages to get away. Ruby fires some arrows as well, to try and cut off her path, but it doesn't work. Ben slams down the Omnitrix turning into an alien known as Eatle. This alien is basically a big beetle-like alien with the Omnitrix symbol on his chest as he grabs a piece of metal and eats it.

While this happens, Rook and Ruby leap over to where the girl is, as she tries to take them down with a kick, but they back away with each punch and kick until they started doing their own. But then the girl uses an arm to place Rook in a choke, hurting him as Ruby growls angrily as her fangs come out and bite the girl's arm hard as she screams in pain and lets go. Rook rubs his throat as Ruby growls ferally telling the girl, "Harm him, and I'll do a whole lot more than just bite!" The girl looks at her stunned as she smiles. Suddenly, a green laser blast separates them as all three look up revealing Ben/Eatle as he comes down as he tell her cockily, "Got ya!" But no one except Ruby and the girl, felt the pipe beneath them start to give way as the girl smirks telling them, "You sure about that?"

The pipe then fully comes down on them as they all fall to the ground. Once the smoke clears, Ben/Eatle holds the girls pack containing the fusion engine as he grunts telling her, "I'm pretty sure." While this was happening, Rook was holding Ruby to him as they fell. Once they woke up, they blushed seeing their predicament, as they both apologize with nervous smiles saying at the same time, "Sorry about that!" They stand back up as a voice then calls out from beside them, "Get off her!" From the tunnel beside then where it looks really, really warm, are a bunch of alien that look like the girl except more muscular, all with winter clothing as the same voice calls out once more, "Off!"

A few of the aliens holds laser-like devices and prepare to fire as Ruby tells her partners, "We might want to do what he says guys." The boys nod as the girl from before stands back up as the one alien in charge of the big group orders the Plumbers, "Give us the fusion engine." Ben/Eatle then asks the alien confused, "Who are you?" The alien in charge says, "We're the Kraaho. I'm Seebik." An alien beside Seebik known as Lackno asks him, "Uh, can we do this quickly, Seebik? I can see my breath!" Ben/Eatle looks confused as he asks them, "You're all cold? What's your problem?" Ruby scoffs under her breath saying, "Lucky!"

Seebik answers the heroes telling them, "You're the ones with the problem. The fusion engine." Rook narrows his eyes telling him, "You are not getting it." Ruby smirks and cracks her knuckles saying, "Not without a couple of scratches and bites…" Then Ben/Eatle smirks saying, "…And definitely not without a fight!" But in a cruel twist of fate, the Omnitrix times out turning Ben back to normal as the girl smirks with Rook looking annoyed, Ben looking upset and Ruby laughing. The girl quickly grabs the container and throws it to her people as Ben is starting to get annoyed as he asks, "Is everyone here made of rubber?!" The girl walks over to her people and smirks while telling Ben, "Only the winners."

* * *

Ben narrows his eyes as he tells the girl, "I'm warning you…" The girl turns around asking back at him, "Yeah?" Ben starts to activate the Omnitrix, but it appears to not be working. Ben then gives up saying, "I got nothing." Rook looks a little scared as Ruby tells Ben a little irked, "No offense Ben, but I'm starting to hate that watch." Ben scoffs telling Ruby, "Join the club." The girl then tells Ben, "Let's do this again sometime – this or anything else, I guess."

Ben looks confused as Rook shakes his head in disappointment as Ruby's brain clicks as she smirks knowing what's happening as Lackno asks Seebik, "C-c-c-can we please get going, Seebik? I-I'm freezing!" So Seebik tells the who girl, "Ester, stop talking to those cold-cuts." Ester frowns a little as she walks toward her people, but pauses for a moment as she turns to Ben and smiles a little. Ruby gasps seeing that she was right, Ester likes Ben! Rook narrows his eyes at Ester as he tells Ben, "These are tungsten-based life forms, no doubt." Ben nods and agrees, albeit a little confused and awed by Ester.

Lackno shivers while complaining to Seebik, "S-Seebik, two more minutes, and I'm an ice sculpture." Seebik then tells Lackno as he then points to Ruby and Ben, "Alright, Lackno. But first…finish them off!" Ben and Ruby look shocked as Ester is somehow getting scared as she tells Seebik, "But Seebik, that's Ben Tennyson and Ruby Bloodmoon!" Ruby looks at Ester confused as she thinks to herself, 'Huh? That's strange. Why would she be worried? Isn't she supposed to be a bad guy?' While Ruby was thinking this, Ben tells the Kraaho while motioning to Rook, "Don't forget him! Better off him, too! We'd totally let you guys go, but this guy never gives up." Ruby grabs hold of Ben shirt and pulls him to her growling angrily at him as flames appear in her eyes at the 'off him' comment. Ben laughs nervously as Rook smiles for what Ruby did for him.

Seebik then orders Ester, "Back to the hot spot!" But Ester, who is getting angry tells Seebik, "But you never said you would off the Earth's two greatest heroes! This isn't the Kraaho way!" Ruby gasps at this as she drops Ben, realizing that maybe Ester isn't the villain here as Seebik gets angry telling Ester, "The Kraaho way is what I say it is – go now!" Ester sighs annoyed as the rest of her people approach the teenagers as the Kraaho stomp in aggression and join hands as Rook tells his partners, "They seem to want to 'off' us with some sort of ritualized 'offing'."

Ruby nods saying, "I agree, and they're not going to hold back either." Ben looks through his Omnitrix, seeing that it now works as he tells his partners, "Thank you, Tribal Culture Channel." He slams the Omnitrix down turning into one of his recent new power houses Gravattack. He slams a foot down and activates his gravity powers exclaiming, "Time for take off!" All the Kraaho except Ester gasp in shock as they are raised by due to no gravity as Ruby smirks saying, "I love this alien." Ben/Gravattack then tells the Kraaho while he keeps them, "First, I'll make you all weightless, and then…" But sadly in another cruel twist of fate, the Omnitrix timed out turning Ben back to normal as the Kraaho fall to the ground.

Ruby looks at Ben appalled and shocked that his transformation ended so suddenly, as she starts to laugh as she tries to hold it back as Ben says annoyed, "Then I time out." Rook then asks Ben starting to get scared, "We thought you said fifteen minutes!" Ben chuckles nervously telling him, "Give or take." Ruby then laughs saying, "Dude! Does the Omnitrix want you to be miserable?!" She continues to laugh but she stops as the Kraaho rise up, very angrily. Suddenly, sewer water is flowing out of the giant pipes covering and distracting the Kraaho, and the one who did it was Ester as she opened the gates inside the pipes. Ruby smiles at this, knowing now this girl may not be a bad guy after all as Ester tells her people, "Sorry. I can't let you do this."

The Kraaho steam up due to the water covering everyone as Ben, Rook and Ruby managed to get away. Suddenly, Ben and Ruby are pulled away from Rook by Ester as the Kraaho girls tells them, "Come on!" Ruby smiles even more, glad that she may have found a friend for life as Rook follows, albeit a little angry for what has happened since not getting the fusion engine and not trusting Ester. The four teenagers walk through the sewers as Ester continues to lead them, but Ben and Ruby get out of her grip as Ben tells Ester, "Wait. We can't run away. It doesn't matter if those guys are made of tungsten or tuna fish. We got to stop them."

Ruby shakes her head telling Ben and Rook, "Actually, I don't think we have to." Ester nods telling Ben, "She's right, they have what they want. They won't be any more trouble." Rook motions around telling Ester, as he starts to get a little irked at Ruby defending her, "Everything about all of this is trouble." Ben nods about to say something but Ester grabs Ben and Ruby's hands as she continues to lead them out of the sewers.

* * *

Now back on the surface, Ester opens a sewer lid, letting herself and the three teens out as she tells them, "The Kraaho can't follow us up here. It's too cold for them here." Ben and Ruby look confused and annoyed as Ben tells Ester, "Sure, 'cause it's only 100 degrees in the shade!" Ruby nods as she pants in exhaustion and from the heat, "Yeah, and 108 degrees out of the shade!" Rook then tells Ben, Ruby and Ester, "That is because the Kraaho need extreme heat. However, you seem fine without it." Ester stretches her limbs telling Rook, "I'm only half-Kraaho. To me, it's just nippy out." Ruby pants telling Ester, "Lucky you! I wish I had that genetic advantage. I can't handle this heat in either my Loboan or Human form! It's a wonder how I haven't died of heat stroke yet?!"

Ester smiles telling her, "I feel bad for you, Ruby. I really do." Ruby smiles, nodding as Rook breaks up this little friendship moment as he irritably asks Ester, "And the fusion engine?" Ester answers with a smile, "They needed that to keep themselves warm." Ben then realizes what this means as he tells her, "And now they have what they need, so…problem solved…" Then Ruby asks Ester, "…and no future bad things?" Ester nods ecstatically telling Ben, Ruby and Rook, "Exactly! Ben and Ruby get it, and you're overthinking everything. Maybe you should try trusting your heart more than your brain."

Ruby snorts, laughing at that, knowing how much that's true for someone like Rook. Rook is confused as a voice calls out to Ester on the street as the voice belongs to a group of small blue kid aliens that look like Ben's alien form of XLR8. The kids cheer for Ester as she smiles while telling the three teens, "Their friends of mine." They ask Ester to play with them as she goes to them as one of the kids asks the heroes to play with them. Ruby calls out to them, "No thanks, I'm good." Ben smiles as he wants to have some fun with the kids and the Kraaho girl who he thinks is pretty. He starts to walk over, but Rook stops him telling Ben irritably, "We were chasing a thief, and there she is!" But Ben tells him, "Yeah, and she saved us, dude! So loosen up!"

Ruby nods agreeing as she tells Rook, "Yeah, and to be honest, Rookie, I don't think she's a bad person. She seems okay to me. I kinda like her, she'd make a great friend, and she was worried about us when we were going to be offed earlier. Not everyone that does a bad thing is a bad person you know." Ben nods with a smile as he walks over to have fun with Ester and the kids as Rook sighs irritably saying as he repeats some things Ben and Ruby said today, " 'Problem solved, dude! She saved us, dude! Loosen yourself, dude! No thanks, I am good, dude!' " Rook facepalms as Ruby looks at him worried. She's never seen Rook this focused on anything where he's getting annoyed.

Ruby pulls his hand away from his face as Rook looks at her intently as Ruby smiles telling Rook, "Rookie, you're starting to worry me. I know you want the mission to be completed and catch the villain. But that's just it. Ester's not the bad guy here, she was only trying to help her people by keeping them warm. She's not doing anything wrong, even if she did steal the fusion engine. She's just an innocent teen like us. And she's right. You're overthinking every little thing whether its important or not. You have to learn how to take it easy and not be so intensely focused on something. You have to learn how to trust your heart and listen to it. If you keep on overthinking things, you might miss some very important things in life, like having fun with the friends you make or even being with the one person you love the most with all your heart and soul that you'd do anything to be with them. Follow your heart Rook, and it will never steer you wrong."

Rook looked at Ruby shocked and awed of her speech as he blushes through some of it and can't help but feel she was right. Maybe Ester wasn't really bad, and maybe he was overthinking about her. Rook smiles as he holds Ruby's hands tightly in his own saying, "Thank you, Ruby. I do not know what I would have done if you had not given me this advice." Ruby smiled telling him, "You'd still be overthinking things." Rook nods as he pulls one of his hands away and holds it to her cheek and gently pets the fur that's there as Ruby looks surprised and blushes. But before any more things could be done, the sound of the Omnitrix activating caught their attention. When it did happen, both noticed their positions as they both swiftly let go, blushing and confused of what just happened, especially Rook.

While this was happening, Ben was trying to play the kid's and Ester's game of some kind of hockey, but he felt he was at a disadvantage. So he slammed down the Omnitrix getting his partners' attention as Ben turned into one of his old alien favorites, XLR8. XLR8 is a blue humanoid velociraptor with a pointy black helmet, green eyes, a black sleek suit like when racing and wheels on his feet allowing him to run super fast. Ben/XLR8 smirks saying, "It's on like Computron!" He runs at supersonic speeds with his hockey stick as he hits the puck at the trash can, making him the winner as the trash can is flung into the sir due to the force of the hit as he turns back to normal as the kids cheer. Ruby also cheers out with her confusion from before gone, "Yeah, Ben!"

Ester smiles at Ben as Rook decides to listen to Ruby's advice, and watches Ester. He knows now that he was wrong. Ester doesn't seem like a bad person, but she still stole. What should he do?

* * *

Ben looks around noticing everyone is hot as he slams down the Omnitrix saying, "Who wants to cool off?" Ben then turns into Water Hazard and sprays water in the air, making a rainbow and making everyone cool and wet as the kids cheer as Ruby comes out of the shade and dances underneath the water, getting nice and wet herself. Ruby laughs at the coolness as Rook smiles at the sight. He'd much rather see her comfortable and happy anyway. Ben/Water Hazard then aims his water guns at Ester, telling her tauntingly, "Hey, Ester!" Ester tries to tell him no, but he blasts her anyway making Ester wet as Ruby is then blasted with water as well as both girls smile and laugh at each other. Ben then turns back to normal as he grabs a towel for Ester as Ruby takes off her cloak and asks Rook to hold it for her.

Rook holds onto it as Ruby shakes herself off like a dog would as she is free of the water and asks for her cloak back. When she grabbed it, she had also touched his hand as both blush a little from it.

While the kids were doing jump rope, Ben puts the towel on Ester, covering her as Ester shivers for a moment as she then blows at Ben's face, and snow falls on him! Ben is astonished and awed at her as Ester blushes at this as she laughs happily while running back to her friends to play. Rook and Ruby appear behind Ben as Rook tells him, "She likes you, Ben." Ruby nods with a smile telling Ben, "Yeah, she has a little crush on you."

Ben shrugs his shoulders telling them, "Everyone likes me. I'm a hero. And all types of girls crush on me, except for you, Rubes." Rook then tells Ben, "Maybe, but she is not innocent. The party is over. You must tell her." Ben looks shocked and a little scared that he might have to. But Rook smiles telling Ben, "But since Ruby just gave me some advice, I have a better idea. We take Ester to Plumber HQ and explain to them why she did what she did. Maybe they will give her a lighter sentence."

Ben and Ruby look at him shocked as they both smile agreeing with this as Rook then tells Ben, "So be the hero, Ben…Before I am forced to poop this party." Ben and Ruby laughed at that very hard as Ben tells Rook, "That was so wrong!" Rook looks confused as Ruby explains telling him, "I think you mean party pooper, Rookie. It doesn't mean to actually do that. It means that you are ruining the party and the fun." Rook smiles nervously with a laugh saying, "Ah, yes. Of course." So now they must tell Ester to come with them, but what will happen next?

* * *

And this is the end of Hot Stretch Part 1! Here are the translations to the Latin spells or spell you have seen in this chapter:

'Aura angelus pennas', means 'Aura angel wings appear.'

Stay tuned for the second part sometime in the future.


	17. Chapter 17 Hot Stretch Part 2

Welcome to the second part of Hot Stretch! I am SO SORRY it took so long to get this chapter up! Not only was it long, but something great happens in this chapter, that's why it took so long. So I hope you all like it and love it. I'm going to be busy in the near future, so please be patient for chapters. After all, we all have lives outside of fanfiction.

Now onto the next chapter...This new chapter includes the rest of the first part which includes bad guy beating, bonding, new friend having, some fun, and a little something special for all of you. Want to know what it is? Read it and you'll find out. Oh, but prepare yourself with tissues first! WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I hope that you like this chapter! Please review if you wish!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art. In this chapter only, there is mention of three movies aka Big Hero 6, Earth to Echo and the Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast. I DO NOT own these movies.

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 17: Hot Stretch Part 2

Back with the Kraaho in their home where the hot spot is, they had just placed the fusion engine in containment unit and placed it on a machine and plugged it in as it starts up. Seebik watches over it all as Lackno tells Seebik, "The machine is ready." Seebik then orders for the machine to start the laser. The laser activates blasting through the ground as Lackno does another 'cold pun' as Seebik calls it but he ignores him as a Kraaho that is working the laser tells Seebik, "Seebik! The laser struck magma!" Seebik nods determined as he then orders, "Open the valves and turn on the pumps!" They do so as magma spews out from different directions as Seebik then tells everyone, "Now let's clear some room for – what do they call it topside?"

Lackno tells him the name of the city as magma continues to spew with Seebik saying, "Make way for New Bellwood!"

* * *

Suddenly, magma spews out from different parts of the ground in the city including the roads as people all over run away in terror and fear! As this happens, Ruby screams in pain, clutching her head as she falls to the ground on her knees. Ben and Rook watch her scared and shocked as Ester runs over as well as Rook asks Ruby helping her up, clearly worried for her well-being, "Ruby, what is the matter?" Ruby still clutches her head as she tells everyone, "The Earth! Something is wrong with the Earth! I'm connected to it, and it's hurting my head! It's feels like it's on fire!" Lava spews out on the other side of town as lava comes spewing towards them as they all look on in shock as the alien kids run away in fear.

Ben, Ester – and Rook who is holding up Ruby – run over to see it as Ester tells them all getting scared, "I swear I didn't know about any of this!" Rook turns to Ester, clearly angry at what's happening to Ruby as he tells Ester angrily, "That the Kraaho would use the fusion engine to do this, thus causing Ruby to be in pain?! It's their work, isn't it?!" Ester looks down ashamed and embarrassed of this as Ruby tells Rook while whimpering, "Rookie, this isn't her fault!"

Ben nods telling Rook as he hops onto a car, "She's right. We're far past the blame stage. I'll take care of this." As lava covers cars and coming towards Ben, he slams down the Omnitrix turning into an alien that he saw for the first time during a trip to the future when he was 10 years old, Arcticguana. This particular alien is basically a big blue iguana with green eyes and a black and white suit with the Omnitrix on his belly.

Ben/Arcticguana grins at this saying, "Cool! Finally, an alien I needed!" So Ben/Arcticguana blasts at the lava with his ice powers cooling down the lava exponentially as it turns black and hard, and once he was done, the whole thing shimmers like diamonds. The Omnitrix times out as one of the alien children comes over and hugs Ester telling her, "Ester! You're okay!" Ben gets off the car and says, "For now!"

Rook then points up to the lava flowing down from a different part of the city and tells everyone, "Look! The lava is still coming. What will happen when it flows down into Undertown? Or worse, what if it has reached the forest outside of Bellwood?" The alien kid and Ruby gasp in fear as they both say at the same time, "My parents!/Mom and all the animals and trees!"

Rook then asks Ester calmly while trying to still hold up Ruby as she still has a burning headache due to the magma coming out of the Earth, "Miss, we need that fusion engine back. The Kraaho have been using you!" But Ester tells them trying to defend her people, "They said they wanted to make it warmer down there." So Ben then asks her, "Down where? That place they told you to go to, right – the hot spot?" Ester frowns at that telling Ben, "You're asking me to betray my people!" Ben then questions this asking her, "Asking? I'm begging you to take us there!"

Ruby nods at this as she tells Ester without flinching, "Ester, listen to us! You have to get us down there now! If they're doing what I think they were doing, not only is it hurting me, but they will probably destroy the Earth from the inside-out! That means animals, plants, humans and aliens will die as well, including my mother! We have to get that thing back before it's too late!" Ester looks down, upset and scared if what her people are doing is true, but she looks back up and nods determined.

All four teenagers are now on their way to the hot spot to see if what is happening is true as the alien kids hide somewhere safe and Ruby makes a quick call to her mother to make sure she was okay. It was a good thing that Scarlet gave her a cell phone not too long ago. Luckily she was just fine and was worried about what was happening as well. And now the teenagers are nearly there to stop whatever the Kraaho are planning…

* * *

They made it to the hot Spot as all four teenagers overhear everything that is happening as they see the Kraaho shed their winter coats as they are wearing tribal clothing underneath while firing up their weapons as Lackno happily tells Seebik, "It's a miracle, Seebik! You turned this frozen wasteland into an oasis!" Seebik smirks saying, "As soon as New Bellwood's warm and the stragglers dealt with. So how does the new name of 'New Earth' sound?" Ester gasps in shock, realizing she was used, as she walks out of the cave and toward Seebik. Her gasp was heard by Seebik as she comes towards him, telling him, "Seebik! You lied to me!"

Ruby smirks to Rook while trying to ignore the burning pain in her head as she tells him, "Told you so, Rookie!" Seebik then tells Ester, "How long can we stay in this cavern? A generation, maybe two? We need a world, Ester." But Ester counters back yelling at him, "This world doesn't belong to you. You can't just roast it! Innocent beings live on this planet!" Seebik growls angrily telling her, "This is not up for debate! My word is law!" They both glare at each other as the Kraaho watch the silent battle.

At a nearby cave, the three teenage heroes must now step in. So Ben then slaps down the Omnitrix turning into NRG. Ben/NRG then asks Ruby and Rook as they look at him, "Create a distraction. I'll get the fusion device." Both nod as Rook goes down first as he stands on a platform calling out to everyone, "Hey! Hey! Eyes on me!" All the Kraaho look at him creeped out and confused as Ruby facepalms next to Ben/NRG as she says, "Oh, dear Moon!"

So Rook tells the Kraaho, "Today we will learn an Earth game known as 'Tag'." The people are confused for a number of reasons and Rook walks up to one and tags him while saying, "You are it!" He then runs away with the Kraaho citizens chasing him as he lets out some 'whoo-hoos.' Ruby chuckles a little at that as she complains with a sigh saying, "Why does my imprintee have to be so cute when he's being weird?" Ben/NRG asks confused, " 'Im-prin-tee'?"

Ruby shakes her head saying, "I'll explain later. Oh, and by the way, Benji? You are way better at distractions." Ben/NRG bows to her saying, "Thank you." Ruby drops down and follows Rook while Ben/NRG sneaks around without anyone noticing. As Rook runs beside Ruby catching up, Ruby tells Rook with a smile, "Good thing I taught you that game, huh?" Rook nods with a smile as he and Ruby are sweating due to the heat as Rook nods telling Ruby with a smile, "Yes, you were right about it. It is great exercise, I just hope we can outrun them." They continue running away from the Kraaho as Seebik angrily tells Ester, "You brought them here? Your father would be very ashamed of you!"

Rook and Ruby still keep on running while lasers are being blasted at them, but they managed to dodge them while leaping on rocks to get away. As soon as they land on the ground, they wipe the sweat from their brows as the heat is making them exhausted. Ruby notices this on Rook, and can't help but feel worried. They keep running, but they are blocked and surrounded by members of the Kraaho. Ruby gulps saying, "Oh, crud!" Rook then calls out to them saying jovially, "Um…Very good! Now, who wants to learn the Electric Slide?" Ruby facepalms saying, "Oh for Moon's sake! Why did I have to teach you that?!"

Some of the Kraaho now look ready to fight as Rook grabs his Proto-Tool and uses it like a tonfa while Ruby grabs her wooden bow as she turns it into a bo staff. Both teens are back to back ready for a fight, as one rushes over Ruby hits the Kraaho's leg knocking them back as Rook spins his Proto-Tool like a nunchuck at one of the Kraaho's lasers, cutting it in pieces. As the Kraaho rush toward them, Ruby and Rook fight back with punches, kicks and tricks with their weapons. Even one where Rook grabs onto Ruby's bo staff as Ruby spins around with Rook hitting them. They quickly run away as they pant in exhaustion with the Kraaho after them. Seebik then decided enough was enough and decides to fight as well while two Kraaho members holds back Ester.

As soon as both teenagers took down some Kraaho, Seebik leaped into the air and slams down with his feet by using the stretchy powers on them, but somehow both dodged it as they leaped away. Rook looks tired as Ruby is even more tired thanks to her fur, so Ruby quickly turns back into her human form to fight, thinking it might be better. Rook and Ruby then charge for Seebik with kicks and punches, but Seebik kicks Ruby away. Rook looks angry at that as he tries to punch and kick Seebik, but Seebik grabs Rook's hand and punches him hard thank to his stretchy powers as Rook hits a wall. Ruby watches this in shock and fear as she growls angrily and ferally as her eyes glow red with anger and hate as her Loboan ears and tail appears.

Ester calls out for Rook in slight fear as she takes down the two Kraaho holding her captive by grabbing them and flings them on Seebik, hurting him, thus letting Rook go. Ruby quickly runs over to Rook as he struggles for breath and falls to his knees as Ruby holds him up. Seebik manages to get up and smirks, thinking he has won, as he walks toward the two as Rook looks up growling as his own eyes start to look slightly feral as well while Ester starts to fight against Seebik. Members of the Kraaho surround them as Rook gets up with Ruby's help. Ruby then quickly calls out to Ben/NRG, "Ben, hurry! I don't think we can handle much more of this!" Both teenagers then keep on fighting the three Kraaho that surrounded them until they're knocked out. Rook falls to his knees while sweating as he pants in exhaustion until finally, he passes out onto the ground.

Ruby hears the thud as she gasps in fear and shock while yelling, "Rook!" Ruby quickly slides over to him and holds him up as she shakes him whimpering in fear as she asks him, "Rookie? Please speak to me!" Ruby hugs him close, trying to keep her anger in check, knowing Ben/NRG is close to winning this fight. Rook pants in exhaustion saying, "Water…" Ruby nods quickly saying a spell, "Et utrem aquae." A water bottle appears in Ruby's hand as she pulls the top off as she helps Rook drink the water as he drinks greedily before the water can evaporate due to the intense heat and humidity. While this was happening Ester is trying to hold Seebik back while Ben/NRG is almost at the fusion device.

* * *

Ben/NRG is at the top, but Seebik hears him as he looks up and orders his citizens, "Keep that cold-cut away from the engine!" Two of them stretched up with their powers and grabbed him, making him fall to the ground as Ben/NRG yells, "Get off me!" When they land on the ground, the two and another one hold him down while one of them tries to pry open the helmet on Ben/NRG as the alien hero tells them, "No! Please, whatever you do, keep the suit closed! Don't open me up! That will end NRG!" Ruby looks up at this and smirks, knowing that's not true while she tries to help Rook keep drinking the water. The helmet is finally pulled off and the real form of NRG appears as this form wears two straps, a belt, two wristbands on both arms, and two knee braces on both legs. While he's the red figure, the Omnitrix is on his belt.

Ben/NRG blasts off into the air while telling them in his German accent, "Suckers!" He laughs as he flies over to the container and cuts off a part of it as he then grabs the fusion engine. And luckily, it doesn't hurt him, thankfully. When Seebik realizes this, he tugs his arms off of Ester's and runs over while telling his people, "Warriors, don't let him…" Ben/NRG then does something unspeakable as he eats the fusion engine! Ruby gapes at that as she then lets out a little smile as Seebik then says fearfully, "…do that!" Suddenly, the fusion engine blows up inside Ben/NRG as his belly then gets big then goes back to normal size as Ben/NRG lets out a loud and long belch letting out a stream of that energy out. He chews a little bit as he then says, "That is good fusion engine! Like a spicy meatball, right Rubin?"

Ruby nods with a smile as she heard what he called her, knowing that Rubin is Ruby in German. Ben/NRG then lets out fireballs of the radioactive energy and shoots them at the machine, destroying it, so that no one can use it ever again. When he did this, the lava flows from up in the surface stop completely. Ruby gasps, as she holds her head after Rook got better from the water, and Ruby feels no burning pain! Ruby smiles as Rook asks her concerned, "Is something wrong, Ruby?" Ruby shakes her head telling him, "No! The burning has stopped! My headache is gone! I'm going to be okay! Everything is going to be okay!" Rook smiles and tells her, "Thank goodness!" Ruby and Rook get up as they walk over to Ben/NRG's suit as Ben/NRG goes back into the suit just as he transforms back to normal.

Seebik who is slightly angry as he tells the teens, "Well, you've won. Happy?" Ester then tries to reason with Seebik by telling him, "You haven't exactly lost. We'll do just fine here in the hot spot." Ben nods as he tells Seebik, "It is practically another part of Undertown. You even have your own private hot springs." Ruby nods as well saying, "They both make valid points. This place will be just fine. Trust me, too much of something can be a bad thing." Seebik is still confused as he tells them, "Coexistence, living next to a city of cold-cuts? That is not the Kraaho way."

Ester shakes her head as she tells him, "No, Seebik, it's not your way. I see that now. But it was my father's way." Ruby and Ben look at her shocked as Ben asks her, "Wait, who was your father?" So Ester tells them, "He was the leader before Seebik. But my mother on the other hand...was human." She looked at Ruby with a smile when she said this. All three teenagers look at Ester in shock from learning that she was an alien/human hybrid.

But Ruby than grins while rolling her eyes and face palming saying, "I knew there was something I liked about you! And now it all makes sense! I was wondering why I sensed a somewhat commanding presence from you and why you only felt slightly cold outside while the rest of your kind were freezing like popsicles!" Ester grins, but then all Kraaho kneel before her as Ben asks them, "Uh, what are ya doing?" Seebik reluctantly tells him, "Anything she wants. She's defeated me." Ester pushes him a little further asking him, "And?"

Then Seebik reluctantly says, "And the Kraaho way is whatever you say it is." Ester then grins as she then says to all, "Coexistence." Lackno raises his head as he asks Ruby and Ben, "You two would allow this?" Ben and Ruby look at each other for a moment as they both smile and nod as they then look to everyone with Ben saying, "So long as you don't step out of line and try to harm the Earth with the way you just did earlier."

Ruby smirks as she motions to the Omnitrix while turning into her Loboan form, "If you do, Ben will hurt you with his aliens and I'll tear you apart in my Loboan form." Ester then tells all, "As Leader of the Kraaho, I swear to this day that I will always be a good neighbor to Ben Tennyson and Ruby Bloodmoon!"

Ester then hugs both teenagers as Ruby hugs her back while Ben blushes. They separate with Ben telling Ester nervously, "Uh, okay. Rook has to go patrol his…right, Rook?" Ruby smirks, seeing how Ben now has a crush on Ester, even though she knows he already has a girlfriend. But the smirk disappears when she realizes she regrettably forgot about Rook, who during the whole time was on his knees panting for thirst as he weakly called out, "Water…!"

* * *

So, a couple minutes later, Ruby and Ben quickly help Rook back to the surface along with getting to a lemonade stand. Ben then asks Rook, "Lemonade?" Rook then quickly grabs a few glasses and downs them, as he then grabs the whole pitcher that has some lemons in them and drinks the whole thing down. Ruby and Ben gape at him as Ruby quietly tells Ben, "This is the first time I've ever seen him drink something so much, besides the water bottle I gave him during the fight." Ben nods quietly telling her, "Yeah, no joke." Once Rook was finally done, he pants telling his partners with a smile, "Thank you."

The alien kids from earlier race by them, calling Ben, 'Ester's boyfriend.' All three teenagers though look confused as one of the kids asks them, "Where's Ester?" Rook tells the child with a small smile, "Still at large, but maybe that is how it should be." Ruby smiles as Ben then tells Rook, "Not her fault the fusion engine was never recovered." Rook glares at Ben a little for that as Ben tells him annoyed, "She's not my girlfriend. We're just…friends."

At the last part, he starts to think on it as he asks his partners, "Wait a sec. Do you two think I have a shot with her?" Rook asks confused while the kids are playing in the street, "What? What do you mean by 'shot with her?" So Ben answers saying while Ruby blushes, "What I mean is that I may have a chance to be with her in case my girlfriend Julie breaks up with me."

Rook understands that by nodding as he sneaks a glance to the blushing Ruby. He is confused as he then asks his partners, "Now that this mission is done, what do we do now?" All three think on this, and a few minutes later, Ruby barks with a smile saying, "I have an idea! If you guys don't mind getting swimsuits from your places, we can all go to my place. We have an indoor underground pool with a hot tub and its magically air-conditioned. My mom was planning on making lemonade and cinnamon rolls with extra frosting anyway.

Besides, she's been wanting to meet you two for awhile anyway. Better do it now before she gets anxious. And if you guys want, you can even spend the night." Ben grins as he tells Ruby, "Now that sounds like a good idea. We all need a big break from this heatwave anyway." Rook nods as well with a smile saying, "I agree. Anything to get out of this heat. I have also wanted to see where you lived for a while, anyway. We will go to Ben's house first since his is closer."

* * *

Both teens nod as Rook manages to get the Proto-TRUK to their location. Once they got in, they sighed with relief as the air conditioning came on. They got to Ben's place and while Ben went to get his swim trunks and a couple of other things, Rook and Ruby introduced themselves to Ben's parents. They both liked Rook for being such a gentleman while they liked Ruby as well despite being a fairytale Goth alien wolf girl. They thought of her as charming, witty and very cute. In fact when Ben came back downstairs, his mom told him with a smile, "Ben, if you weren't dating Julie, Ruby here would be a keeper." Both teens blush as they both tell her at the same time while Rook is a little angry, "Mrs. Tennyson!/MOM!"

Ben's dad tells his wife, "Now Sandra, don't assume such things." Ruby nods telling Sandra, "It's true, Mrs. Tennyson. I don't have any romantic feelings for your son. I only see Ben as a close friend/brother figure. He's like the other brother figures that I grew up with who would be there to protect his sister from harm, someone he'd have fun with. Besides, I have romantic feelings for someone else. Someone who I care about very much whether he knows it or not. And I'd do anything for him, too, even if it means risking my life to protect him." All members of the Tennyson family and Rook looked at Ruby stunned as Ben smirks knowing what she means as Rook is confused and is starting to think, 'Who does she like? Is it me? Could she have found out what I did and have since Plumber Academy?'

Ben nods putting a hand on her shoulder while telling his parents, "Yeah, she's right. I only like her like a sister. Besides, Ruby's too hot for me to like, anyway. So if you two don't mind, Ruby's taking me and Rook to her place for a pool party and sleepover." Both parents agreed as Ben's mom says, "Alrighty then, have fun, Ben!" All three teens leave to go to Plumber HQ for Rook to get his things. As soon as Rook returned to the Proto-TRUK with his things, they made their way to the woods outside of Bellwood.

Ruby then gives Rook directions of how to get to her place. They had to go through a hill and a couple of turns. They reached a road where it will take them straight to the log cabin. So they keep driving through it, and while they did, there was a thunder kind of noise. Ben looks out the window, seeing brown, grey, white and black wolves running alongside them as he nervously says, "Wow Rubes...That's a lot of wolves out there."

Rook sees them as well, but Ruby tells them, "Don't worry about them, guys. The wolves are part of the forest sanctuary my mom and I run. They know I'm here, that's why they're running alongside us. And their all friends of mine, as well as family, so there's nothing to worry about." They keep driving with the wolves running alongside them as Rook is careful to not hit any of them. As soon as the log cabin came into view, Ben's jaw drops at seeing the cabin as he says to Ruby shocked, "That's not a log cabin! That's a log mansion!"

Rook nods as well, equally shocked as he tells Ruby, "That is true. The pictures you have showed me, Ruby, do not do it justice." Ruby smiles saying as Rook parks the car near the front door, "Yeah, mom and dad wanted to be very comfortable in their home when they got together. They made it somewhat old-fashioned outside and inside, though it's also modern too. They built it themselves thanks to my mother's magic and kept it very well hidden, which is why there's a barrier all over our property. Only people that the members of the Bloodmoon family trust can find the cabin."

They opened the doors and got out as the wolves stay away and await orders from their Alpha Princess of Wolves. Ben then asks Ruby curiously and still somewhat nervous as he points to the wolves, "Uh, Rubes...What are they waiting for?" So Ruby answers him before talking to the wolves, "Orders. Don't worry, everyone. These two don't mean any harm. Their the boys I told you about: The alien-shapeshifting teen hero and my first friend from Plumber Academy. They are to be treated as guests while they're here. Now, all of you can go to the underground pool area.

I don't want all of you to get any hotter than it already is out here. My friends and I will be down there in a bit to join you all." All wolves nod as most of them leave while a white wolf stays and licks Ruby's hand, as she raises her hands and pets the white wolf gently as she smiles and gently strokes the wolf's stomach and says to it, "Hi, Luna. How are you and the pups doing today?" The wolf whimpers a conversation to her as Ben and Rook look shocked and confused.

Ruby smiles at Luna and tells her, "Well, I'm glad you're doing okay, Luna. Especially since you're due any day now. Go inside and cool down, okay? We'll see you in a bit." Luna nods and licks Ruby's cheek in gratitude as she walks to the back of the mansion. When she stands back up and turns around, Ben asks her confused, "You speak wolf?!" Ruby smiles telling them, "I speak the languages of all animals, cryptids and aliens. It's part of being half-Loboan and the Red Riding Hood of the family.

How else am I supposed to help them? Luna over there is due to have pups any day now. Hopefully it will be after this heat wave is over. Most animals can't stay in really hot weather for too long, so that's why we have space around the pool area underground where they can stay in, until it cools down. Now, come on! We'll go inside the house first since I have to get my swimsuit, and my mom will want to meet you guys first too, and you guys can head to the pool room."

* * *

The three teens walk to the door as Ruby opens it, as cool air blasts at them thanks to the magical air conditioning as all three walk inside as Rook and Ben look around in awe, seeing the home with an old-fashioned yet modern charm since the mansion was really a very big log cabin. There's a big dog bed near the fireplace, pictures hung all over the living room, a red sofa, a red love seat and a mahogany coffee table. A voice calls out from the kitchen with a worried tone, "Ruby honey, is that you?"

Ruby smiles calling out, "Yeah, mom, its me! And I brought some buddies of mine for you to meet!" The voice walks out of the kitchen as the person that it belonged to is Scarlet, Ruby's mother. Currently, she is wearing a pink tank top with a red hooded vest, black capris, and a white 'Kiss the Cook' apron. Both boys look at Scarlet with a slight blush realizing where Ruby gets her human looks from as they see she has long wavy beautiful brown hair, warm brown eyes and natural crimson highlights in her hair and that she looks 36 years old.

Scarlet runs to her daughter, hugging her as she says, "Thank goodness you're alright, my Little Red Riding Wolf. When I saw the lava about to head toward Undertown, I got worried." She releases her daughter as Ruby tells her, "I was, too. But my partners and I managed to stop the lava flow just in time. I'll explain what happened later, but first, some introductions."

Ruby turns to her friends as she introduces them to each other, "Mom, this is Ben Tennyson: world-famous alien hero, and Rook Blonko: my first friend from Plumber Academy. Ben and Rook, this is my mother, Scarlet Bloodmoon: The Red Riding Hood before me." Rook smiles as he and Scarlet shakes hands as he tells her, "Mrs. Bloodmoon, it is a great honor to finally meet you. Ruby has told me so much about your family as I have learned from a certain book."

Scarlet smiles as she tells Rook, "Why thank you, Rook, and you're such a gentleman. I'm going to like you already." Rook smiles and nods at that as Ben and Scarlet shakes hands as well as Ben tells her, "So you're Ruby's mom. Grandpa Max told me a bit about you." Scarlet laughs a little telling Ben, "Hope it wasn't anything bad. And it's nice to finally meet you as well Ben. Your Grandpa has told me quite a bit about you over the years as well, and my daughter's been telling me about all of your adventures since joining you, so I know everything including the last incident."

Scarlet winks at Ben as Ben looks confused, but he then realizes what she meant as he grins sheepishly and nods. Scarlet then tells the three teenagers, "You all better get in the pool. The wolf pack is already down there and so are the lemonade and cinnamon rolls. And since you boys each have a bag full of clothes, I'm guessing you will be staying here for the night?" Both boys nod with smiles as Scarlet smiles telling the boys, "I figured as much. I've got some work to do then, so I'll see you all later."

Scarlet leaves to go to her bedroom as Ruby tells Ben and Rook while she heads up the stairs, "You two head on down to the pool and I'll be down there shortly. Just go downstairs, turn left, then right and it will take you there." Both boys nod as Ruby walks into her room to get her swimsuit. Rook and Ben made it to the pool as they gape at the room: The room itself was like a small underground forest with trees, bushes and flowers. and the pool was actually a very large lake-like pool with a medium waterfall at the back, and there was a hot spring off to the side of the lake pool with hot water steaming as a small magical breeze gently blew through the forest room with a few beach lounge chairs lined up along the lake-pool shore with a table near the chairs with two trays of lemonade and cinnamon rolls on it, and nearby were a couple of changing rooms, It was then they noticed the wolf pack they met outside were here too, lounging and hanging around near the lake-pool edge.

Ben then tells Rook with a smile, "Rook, you may be the luckiest guy I know for being friends with Ruby. Why didn't you tell me her family was practically rich?!" Rook shakes his hand telling Ben, "I did not know she was wealthy, Ben. All I knew was that she and her mother had a big log cabin house in the forest. But it makes sense now." A few minutes later, both boys changed to swimsuits in the changing rooms. Ben is wearing green swim trunks and Rook is wearing black swim trunks. Ben jumps into the lake-pool doing a cannonball and splashes some of the wolves in the process and when he comes back up, he sighs in relief saying, "Oh this feels so much better! Goodbye heat, hello cool!"

Rook nods as he jumps as well letting out a 'whoo'! He comes back up as he floats on his back saying, "Now this is much better. This pool is truly relaxing, and very much like an Earth lake. Now I know why Earthlings like to do this during the hot weather." Ben nods as well as he gets out of the lake-pool telling Rook, "Yeah, a lot of people would much rather be in the water than anywhere else during the summertime."

Ben walks over to the beach chairs and table as Rook follows from coming out of the lake-pool as he drinks a cup of lemonade as he leisurely sits on one of the chairs, and sighs as Rook does the same as Ben tells Rook, "Nothing can get better than this." Ben takes a bite out of a cinnamon roll as Rook prepares to drink some lemonade from his glass cup until, "Oh, man! You guys are already eating and drinking without me!" Both boys look up as they gape at the teenage girl that just came in with wide eyes and red faces as Rook says in stunned daze, "Bralla Da…"

Ben then quietly says to Rook, "Okay, I take back what I said before. It just got better." Ruby just came into the room with her black one piece which has periwinkle blue and silver stripe designs and a pair of black sandals. Ruby walks down the stairs and makes her way towards the boys as Rook almost drops his glass. Ruby then asks them, "Well, how do I look?" They both snap out of it as Ben asks her with a grin, "Is it wrong to say that I think you look hotter than usual?"

Ruby shakes her head saying, "Nah. It's more of a compliment, really. And thanks for coming, guys. Usually only Zak and his brothers and sister sleepover with me here. And I don't have any other friends that I can contact with to hang out with here in Bellwood or other people I know all over the world. So it's nice to know that I have friends close by."

Ruby sits in her own seat as she takes a cinnamon bun and eats it as Ben tells Ruby, "Thanks for inviting us. And you were right about you and your mother's cooking. These cinnamon buns are delicious! And the extra frosting makes them better." Ruby smiles telling Ben while taking a sip of lemonade, "Well, I'm glad. I told you some of the stuff we make is mouthwatering and delicious."

Rook sips his lemonade as he asks Ruby, "Indeed, this food is most delicious. I am glad we made the decision to come here. It is nice to finally have a break from all of the criminals we have been fighting." Ruby nods telling him, "I hear you, Rookie. And the three of us have only been partners for a few weeks." Ben nods with a smile, telling his partners, "You're right about that, Rubes. And you know what? I was wrong about you two. You're both great partners, and great friends despite a few things, and I wouldn't mind having you two around for quite a while. I hope we all remain that way for a long time." Rook and Ruby grin as Ruby tells the boys, "Then how about a toast? To still continuing to be partners, friends and fighting bad guys until the day we die?"

Rook looks confused as he then asks, "Does this having 'a toast' mean to burn something?" Ruby laughs and shakes her head saying, "No Rookie, it means like a promise where we hold our drinks up, put them together while saying 'cheers' and then drink once the promise is made." Rook nods as Ben then holds up his glass and tells them, "Then here's a toast for us to remain friends and partners 'til the end of time!" All three hold their drinks up and clink them together saying, "Cheers!" All three then drink the lemonade as they spend a few more hours in the pool room as they finished eating the cinnamon buns and had fun in the pool.

* * *

It's now six o'clock as the three teens came back up from the pool room as Rook and Ben are now dressed in pajamas while Ruby went back up into her room to change into hers. Ben is wearing a green t-shirt and black shorts, Rook is wearing a blue tank top and black shorts and when Ruby came down in her human form, she was wearing black lounge pants and a red tank top with brown fuzzy wolf slippers as her hair is in a braid.

Ruby is relishing this day due to Rook wearing clothes that are not his Proto-Tech Armor. Dinner was made by Scarlet with glasses of apple cider, Beef Stew and Mashed Potatoes for mostly Ben, Ruby and Scarlet, a big Harvest Salad with Cherry Vinaigrette for Rook and Ruby – and because Ruby requested, Scarlet made chili fries for Ben. Ben's mouth waters at the sight of the food, especially the chili fries as he says, "I can't decide which to have first!"

So Scarlet tells Ben, "Take your time, Benjamin. There's plenty here for all of you. And dessert is ready in the fridge so let me know when you want it." Ben nods as when everyone gets their food, they head out to the living room to watch a few movies before bed. The movies they watched were Big Hero 6, Earth to Echo – and because Ruby begged the boys to watch it with her – the Disney movie's Beauty and the Beast. Ben and Rook were practically on the edge of their seats while watching the first movie due to the action while they were eating as Ruby cries through all the sad parts.

Then before the second movie can begin, Scarlet had made dessert for everyone which included Apple Cinnamon Pie and White Chocolate Raspberry Torte. During the second movie, Rook was fascinated with all that he saw and learned especially since he kept asking Ruby and Ben all sorts of questions during the two movies. Scarlet watches all of this with a smile since the first movie as she is very happy that not only is there laughter in the home but how closer Rook and Ruby seem to be. Scarlet smiles at the two whenever she got a moment as she now understands why Ruby and Rook are meant to be together.

Scarlet has known that Ruby can be wild sometimes and can be very kind, but lately her anger has gone out of control, and it mostly had to do with whenever someone hurt Rook, but as long as he was still by her side and happy, that anger disappears and Ruby has more fun with her life. She realizes that they truly needed each other. This special little relationship reminds her of herself and…Scarlet flinches remembering that Darius is not here. Scarlet has truly missed him, including her own daughter. But she and Ruby haven't given up hope, they know one day he'll return. So Scarlet takes in the comfort of seeing Ruby and Rook together.

After Earth to Echo, she decided to head to bed while the kids remained watching movies. And because Ben ate so much good food, he fell asleep in the beginning of the third movie. So only Rook and Ruby watched it, and while they did, Rook had grabbed the blanket on the couch and covered himself and Ruby in it, when he saw she was shivering due to the AC as Ruby blushes. As they watched the movie, Rook was listening and watching the movie intently as he is confused that a Beast and a Beauty would be in love together.

So Ruby tells him, "It's because they complete each other, Rookie. Belle wanted adventure in the world and someone she could talk to and the Beast needed someone that not only had outer beauty but inner beauty as well, someone that could see the Beast as a human being instead of a monster. Love has no boundaries, Rookie, even when they may not seem right. Like Belle and the Beast, my mom and dad, me and you."

Ruby then realized what she said as she covers her mouth and blushes badly as Rook asks her confused with a slight blush on his face, "Wait, what?" As the movie continues playing into the part where Belle and Beast dance, Ruby blushes badly, trying to figure out what to say to him so she can hide her feelings for him, but she can't think of anything! So Ruby lets out a reluctant sigh as she tells Rook, "Rook, there's something I have to tell you."

* * *

Rook nods, urging Ruby to continue as she tells him, "I was trying to tell you something earlier during the Annihilarrgh incident because I thought the universe was going to be destroyed and we were all going to die, but I'm going to tell you now. You remember how my mom and dad fell in love when you read the book? That they imprinted?" Rook nods as he still looks confused as Ruby sighs telling Rook, "When we first met on the ship heading to Plumber Academy and we looked at each other? I…I…I actually imprinted on you back then and when that happened, you kinda, sorta became...my mate."

Ruby looks away at this as Rook's eyes go wide with shock as he says, "What?" Ruby shakes in fear as she still continues to blush as she tells him still looking away, "Basically, everything that I am and what makes me what I am, my heart, my soul, my entire being, it...belongs to you...and only you, now...and forever. I never told you because I didn't know how you'd react about learning that we're soulmates and that I practically and literally belong to you for life and that you're now practically my only reason for living now.

I wanted to wait for the right time and place to tell you so I could explain it to you gently without freaking you out and possibly having our friendship ended. So if you've had feelings involving why you're so drawn to me, being overprotective and wanting to stick by my side, it's because of that. I can understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore after learning this. I just figured I'd tell you now instead of later or never. I love you, Rook Blonko, and I hope you accept my feelings in return. But if you don't, and not want to be friends anymore, I won't hold it against you."

By the time she had finished, Ruby was in tears and shaking in apprehension and fear, waiting to hear words of cruelty and rejection from Rook. But instead of bad words and a broken heart, a gentle, periwinkle blue furred hand reaches to her face and cups her tear-stained cheek with it. Ruby flinches from the contact as her tear-filled eyes go wide as Rook, still cupping her cheek, gently turns her face to him as he gently places his other hand on her other cheek, tenderly cupping her whole face. Rook looks at her with gentle, loving yet slightly feral eyes as he smiles at her tenderly and lovingly.

The movie gets to the part where Beast gets stabbed by Gaston, but neither watcher pays attention to it as Rook calmly tells her, "How can I not fall in love with the most beautiful, kindest and the most amazing creature I have ever met?" Ruby looks at him shocked as more tears fall down her face as Rook wipes them away with his thumbs. Ruby then asks Rook tearfully, "But I thought…I was afraid that..." Rook then tells her with a smile and a tad jokingly as Ruby laughed a little at the last comment, "You are overthinking everything like I did, my dearest friend."

Rook continues telling her, "Is it not obvious, Ruby? For the last few weeks, I have realized that I too have fallen in love with you. I could not figure out why that was, but then I thought back to the moments Scout and I found out about the true you, everything after that and since coming to Earth. I finally figured it out while we were in the pool today. I was hoping to tell you, but I did not think you felt that way towards me until today. But now that I know not only that you do have feelings for me, but that I am also your imprintee…"

Rook smiles while looking into her eyes as he tells her while taking his hands off her cheeks and takes hold of her hands, "Ruby Bloodmoon, would you do me the honor of becoming my – as the Earthlings put it – girlfriend, and my beloved mate?" Ruby looks at Rook in shock and in awe just as the movie reaches to the part where Belle looks at the Beast in human form in shock and awe. Ruby looks into the amber eyes of the Revonnahgander teen and can't help but smile, happy that her feelings truly have been returned as she nods telling him, "Yes. Yes, I will!" Rook smile in happiness as he leans to Ruby's lips with his eyes closed as Ruby does the same. Just like that, like a spark, their lips connected and they kissed with all the love they had for each other just as Belle and Beast in the movie kissed.

As Ruby and Rook kissed, Ruby turns Loboan as Rook threads his hand into her mane, and Ruby's tail is wagging happily, clearly enjoying the kiss. After what felt like hours to the two love struck imprinted teens, they both separated and smiled, both happy that they finally did it and that their now together. Ruby smiles telling Rook, "About time, huh, Rookie?" Rook nods with a smile telling her, "Same here, Ruby." Ruby smiles, but it starts to frown, as she realizes something as she asks Rook, "Hey, Rook? Why do I have a weird feeling you did this with me before?"

Rook blushes as he then laughs nervously telling her, "Well…I may have kissed you while you were unconscious when Scout and I found you knocked out on the floor back in Plumber Academy." Ruby blushes at that but Rook tells her urgently, "But it was only on the corner of your lips, nowhere else! It happened while you and Scout were asleep. I tried to figure out why I did it, but I never did. And all I had to remember of it was a forget-me-not flower that got in your hair. I've had it with me ever since then and kept it preserved. I guess you could say it was the first stepping stone of our love together."

Ruby kisses his cheek at that telling him, "I think that's really sweet, Rookie. Thank you." Rook smiles as he holds her close as the new couple watches the end of the movie. Once the credits came, Ruby and Rook fell asleep in each other's arms, sleeping peacefully. What neither one of the two knew was that Ben overheard everything as he grins to himself. But it wasn't just him. Scarlet had overheard and saw everything with a smile as she was going to get some water earlier. After about two years, Ruby and Rook have finally gotten together and nothing would separate them. But what the three teenagers didn't know, was that a certain hunter and his hunting, shape-shifting alien dog were going to return, and catch their prey when their alone…

* * *

And this is the end of this chapter! This one was fun, hard to do and very long but I hope you all love it. But now Rook and Ruby are finally together! Whoo-hoo! Here are the translations to the Latin spells or spell you have seen in this chapter:

'Et utrem aquae', means 'Water bottle.'

Stay tuned for the next chapter sometime in the future.


	18. CH 18 Of Predators and Prey Part 1 (1)

Welcome to a fun new chapter for you all to like, love and enjoy! Again, updates will be slow, but enough about that. Just enjoy reading this chapter. Ladies and gentlemen, Rook and Ruby are finally together! YAY! I have been waiting patiently for that to happen. And I'm glad you all had that patience too! And better news, is that this book will one day be completed! This book will end with a few more chapters after this as I'm sure we all can't wait for the second book of this adventure to come out! Also, to certain guest reviewers, good chapters come to those who wait. We all got lives outside of fanfiction and these chapters take time. So please be patient!

Now onto the next chapter...Again, this new chapter includes bonding, bad guy fighting, and a break-up (GASP!). WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I hope that you like this chapter! Please review if you wish!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 18: Of Predators and Prey Part 1 (1)

It has been about a week since saving Bellwood and practically the planet from the Kraaho, the three teen heroes befriending Ester from the Kraaho, the heat wave was finally gone and Rook and Ruby are FINALLY together! When morning came after the sleepover, Rook and Ruby had woken up sleeping in each other's arms with Ben grinning smugly and Scarlet smiling in happiness. When both love struck teens realized their position and that everything that happened last night wasn't a dream, they blushed and smiled at each other, happy that they finally revealed their feelings for each other.

Since then, Ruby and Rook have hung out more together whether it was at Plumber HQ or Ruby's home. Ruby had told Rook of the things that happened without his knowing of her trying to protect him especially during the adventure that involved the Megawatts. Rook had blushed about what she had said that day and told her that she really should try to control her temper more, or else who knows what could have happened. Other than that, Rook and Ruby are finally happy together, as that is how it should be.

Ben has been very happy for the two love birds. Other people would feel like their a third wheel, especially with Ben having Julie Yamamoto as his girlfriend. But he doesn't feel like that all. He's happy their together, especially for Ruby's sake. He never wanted to admit it, but he had had a crush on Ruby. At first, it was a small crush, but over time, he saw her as a sister he never thought he wanted before. That's when Ben realized that Ruby was never meant for him in case Julie broke up with him. So he's happy that their happy. Word got to Plumber HQ about Rook and Ruby being together as everyone was happy/mad, because that most of the Plumbers including Grandpa Max made a bet to see if they really would get together. Luckily, Grandpa Max and whoever was on his side won. Everything was going perfectly, but if only the heroes knew what was going to be in store for them next, which includes a certain hunter and his alien, shape-shifting dog…

* * *

But for now, let's start with the beginning…Today is a regular day in the middle of March as Rook, Ruby and Ben are having fun at the Bellwood Electronics store, thus having a day off. Ben and Rook are playing a 3D Sumo Slammers racing game that has just come out as Rook and Ben are standing on platforms with controllers to help them drive as Ruby – who is wearing her enchanted cloak as a crimson leather hooded jacket – watches it all unfold on the sidelines as she smiles, glad to see her boys are having some fun. Rook, who is confused asks Ben, "What does battling in go-karts have to do with sumo?" Ben answers grinning as he tries to drive as both boys have 3D glasses on, "It's just supposed to be fun. It's a break from reality." But Rook tells him still confused, "But you fight in real life all the time."

So Ben tells him, "Yeah, but this is in 3D. It's like it's coming right at you!" Ruby nods telling Rook, "He's right, Rookie. There's a time for being serious and being in reality, and there's also a time for having fun and being in fantasy. And trust me, battling in go-karts is a lot more fun. I'll introduce you to Mario Kart when I get the chance, okay?" Rook nods as he smiles telling Ruby, "As you wish, Ruby Moon." Ruby blushes and smiles at the new little nickname.

After these lovebirds got together, Rook came up with a nickname for Ruby, Ruby Moon. The girl in question, blushes every time he says it. Suddenly, a loud shaking occurs when through the wall, the same alien, shape-shifting dog appears as Crabdozer! It roars as Ben asks his partners deadpanning, "I totally asked for that, didn't I?" Ruby nods telling him, "Yes. Yes you did."

* * *

Crabdozer tries to come in as other people inside scream and try to run away as Ruby turns Loboan form as Ben exclaims as he slams down the Omnitrix, "Boy, did you choose the wrong guy to pick a fight with! Come on, Humungousaur!" But when he slammed down the Omnitrix, he instead turned into an old alien favorite, Stinkfly. Ben/Stinkfly gets annoyed as he says, "Stinkfly? That doesn't even sound like 'Humungousaur'!" Ruby smirks telling Ben/Stinkfly, "Maybe you should stop saying their names before you transform? That way you won't jinx it and you can finally get what you want for a change." Ben/Stinkfly growls at that as he then spits out green gunk at Crabdozer's legs as it tries to escape as Ben/Stinkfly tells it while laughing, "Stick around for a while, why don't you?"

Ruby's Loboan ears perk up for some reason as she hears a familiar whistling sound as she tells her pals, "I don't think it will! Look!" She was right as Crabdozer suddenly turned into Buglizard as it sprays at the goop with its gas, melting it and turning it into liquid as Ben/Stinkfly and Rook look shocked. Ruby gulps saying, "This is what I was afraid of. It was able to escape by turning into something else!" Buglizard then slithers/walks forward grabbing Ruby and Ben/Stinkfly by their body/hood respectively, capturing its prey as they both try to escape. Rook then quickly grabs his Proto-Tool and fires an electrical blast at the monster, thus causing it to let go of the teens as Ben/Stinkfly turns back to normal and Ruby shudders saying, "I hate being something's prey. Thanks, Rookie."

When Ben turned back to normal, he and Ruby then realized they were covered in green drool-like slime as they both shudder in disgust saying, "EWW!" Ruby shakes the drool off of her, as it misses Rook, but hits Ben as he glares at Ruby as she tells her friend, "What?! I hate being dirty sometimes." Ben then gets a little angry as he prepares to slam down the Omnitrix saying, "Okay, that does it. Let's see how you like a little Humungousaur drool!" Ben slams it down, but instead of his chosen alien once again, he gets Wildmutt. Ruby face palms at this as she tells Rook, "I tried to warn him, but does he listen to me? No! Good thing you listen to me, Rookie." Rook smiles telling her, "And I am glad that I do so." Rook kisses her on the cheek just before Ben/Wildmutt and Ruby charge for Buglizard to tackle it.

They did as they crash through the building to outside as both heroes then proceed to hold it down as Ruby tells her partner, "Hold it down, Benji!" Ben/Wildmutt growls in approval at this, but what neither knew was that that Khyber was watching from a building just across from them through his little bone telescope. He is concerned about this as he then lets out a whistle through his gills when suddenly, Ruby and Ben/Wildmutt let go as they whimper and howl in pain from the whistle as Ben/Wildmutt turns back to normal as he and Ruby are now in fetal position. Ruby then tells Ben, "I officially hate that noise!" But just before the Buglizard could take Ben and Ruby, Rook slams into Buglizard knocking it down then kicks it away as Rook looks at his friends concerned asking them, "What is wrong?"

Ben and Ruby stand back up as Ben asks Rook, "Don't tell us you didn't hear that!" Ruby whimpers telling Rook, "Yeah, that whistle really hurt my ears!" Rook still looks concerned as he tells them, "Okay. I will not. But tell me, what whistle should I have heard?" The Buglizard then sprays the gas from earlier from its mouth, but Rook charges in and tries to fire at it, but it escapes turning back into its blue dog form. Rook sulks at this as Ruby and Ben appear next to him as Rook sighs telling his partners, "My apologies, you two. That almost never happens." So Ben then tells Rook sympathetically, "What? Missing a shot?" Rook nods in glum as Ben and Ruby smile as they pat his back. Rook looks at them confused as he asks them, "What are you two doing?"

So Ben tells Rook, "We're comforting you. You know, 'there, there.'" Ruby nods telling Rook, "It's supposed to make you feel better, Rookie. Everyone misses stuff like that sometimes, even I do. And I've practically been training and fighting my whole life. That's why we're doing the 'there, there' thing. It's okay to mess up sometimes. So don't worry about it, okay? And it's not made up, if that's what you're thinking. It's a thing all Earthlings do, even boyfriends and girlfriends." Rook smiles as he pets Ruby's head telling her and Ben, "Thank you, dear partners. You Earthlings sure do a lot of weird things that seem to make no sense to me." Ben smiles telling Rook, "That's because you haven't been here for as long as we have. And yeah, some things are weird, but that's what makes Earth unique."

Ruby nods telling Rook, "And who knows? You may be doing that to us, eventually. Now if only we had more info on that evil thing and why it's after us." Rook notices the irritated look on her face at that and pats her on the back as Rook tells her, "Do not worry about that, Ruby Moon. We will figure it out." Ruby looks up as she and him smirk, realizing he did do it as Ben shakes his head at this as he murmurs to himself, "Maybe I shouldn't have taught him that after all."

* * *

All three teenagers got in the Proto-TRUK as they make their way to Plumber HQ as Rook is driving on the bridge as Ben tells his partners, "I don't know why we're wasting our time searching for that alien dog. It's gonna come after us again, anyway. It always does. We just have to wait for it." Rook then asks Ben and Ruby, coming up with some kind of an idea, "Would it be more prudent for us to take a more proactive stance at this juncture? We need to do something about that creature and whoever takes care of it. That Anubian Baskurr is obviously a creature of some cunning." Ben then tells Rook a bit ashamed at the last part, "It's just a snarling monster…many snarling monsters." Ruby growls saying, "Snarling monsters that tick me off."

Then Rook tells Ben concerned, "When you transformed into a Lepidopterran, aka Stinkfly, your attacker immediately transformed into a Buglizard, Stinkfly's natural predator in the wild, thus capturing you and Ruby until I saved you two." Ben grimaces at this saying, "I never really thought about my aliens having any predators." Ruby nods her head saying, "And I never thought Loboans could have predators too." Then Rook tells Ben and Ruby, "It took your changing into something else, in this case a Vulpimancer, to defeat it when you two held it down."

Then Ruby tells the boys, "And did you two notice the symbol on its collar?' Ben nods saying, "Yeah, it looked kind of like the Omnitrix, except it was grey, red and scary-looking. Bet you two a couple million dollars that's how it transforms!" Ruby looks at Ben with a glare telling him, "Yeah, nice try, Benji. Ain't falling for it." Ben then sulks until he notices something in the alley as he tells Rook eagerly, "There it is! Reverse the car!" Rook backs up as Ruby prepares to fight as Ben prepares to activate the Omnitrix as Rook backs up. But it wasn't the dog they were looking for. It was blue, but it was just a regular dog. Ruby then sighs in relief telling Rook, "False alarm, Love. It's just a regular dog."

Rook then continues driving as Ben looks disappointed as Ruby is greatly relieved as Rook pats Ben's back as Ruby laughs telling him, "Aw, you're so sweet!" Ruby kisses Rook's cheek as she leans into him while he drives. Rook can't help but blush at the contact as he smiles while driving. Ben looks annoyed as he tells Rook, "We should never have taught you that." Rook then tells Ruby and Ben, "Those sounds you thought you two heard, which I did not, perhaps Wildmutt and Ruby being half Loboan, allowed you both to hear tones beyond my audible range." Ruby snaps her eyes open and gasps sitting up as she exclaims, "A dog whistle! That's why we heard it! Only canines can hear it! That's why I've been able to hear it every time we saw it. And it was so close, I could hear it clearly and it hurt my ears."

Ben nods a little shocked as he tells them, "Of course! That's why this time I heard it. Because Wildmutt is like a dog, and Loboans are werewolves, and the default form of all those aliens is a dog-like alien." Rook then jokingly tells Ben and Ruby, "I bet you two a couple million dollars if that is true." All three smirk at the little joke as they laugh about it as Rook keeps driving. Now, how will they take care of the alien dog?

* * *

All three teenagers made it to Plumber HQ as they walk into the Lobby part of it that connects into the kitchen as Ben calls out for his grandfather, "Grandpa Max?" Suddenly a screeching noise sounds out as Grandpa Max leaps over the counter with an energy gun as a chair is flung into the Lobby. All three teenagers are behind Grandpa Max as he then motions them to the shrimp-like alien that's on the lights as he then motions them to try and catch it. Rook has his Proto-Tool at the ready along with Ruby and her bow and arrow as she turned it into a whip. The shrimp-like alien jumps off and walks along the counter as it heads toward a door as Grandpa Max calls out, "It's making a break for the exit!"

Luckily, Ben and Ruby got in front of it as Ben prepares to slam down the Omnitrix, but the little alien screeches as both gasp and the alien jumps as both teens back away and scream as they fall to the floor on their backs as the little alien escapes. But when the teens fell, a white and green hoverboard fell down from the shelf and hit Ben in the head. Ben gasps, recognizing the board as he tells Grandpa Max and Ruby, "Hey! My old hoverboard from when I was ten. I can't believe you kept it, Grandpa!" Ruby gasps telling Ben excited yet annoyed, "You got a hoverboard?! Lucky!" Grandpa then tells Ben, "I kept a lot of things, kiddo."

But while he was distracted the little alien jumped on his gun and back into the kitchen. But luckily, it got captured thanks to Rook using his Proto-Tool as a netter while saying, "Gotcha." Ruby sighs adoringly saying, "Moon, I love that alien." Rook smiles big at that as Ben then asks Grandpa Max, "What exactly is that thing?" So he tells Ben, "Lunch. Want some?" Ben gags at that as Rook asks Grandpa Max in confirmation, "Quartilloptus Soup?" Ruby suddenly looks up and licks her lips hungrily as her Loboan ears and tail pop up when Rook asks this as Grandpa Max answers saying while putting the little creature in the pot, "Well, you know your xeno cuisine."

Rook tells Grandpa Max with a smile, "It was my Grandmother's favorite recipe." Grandpa Max then pours some of it in two bowls for Rook and Ruby as he asks Rook, "Did she make it with powdered or granulated mealworm?" Rook accepts the bowl in gratitude telling him, "I don't really remember." Ruby then accepts the second bowl taking a sip as well as Rook as Grandpa Max tells Rook, "Well, it makes all the difference." Ben then appears telling his Grandpa, "Grandpa, I need to talk to you about something."

Grandpa Max nods telling him, "Sure thing, kiddo. What's up?" So Ben tells him as Grandpa listens while eating, "This thing that's been attacking me and Ruby, it can change alien forms and it has a symbol on it that looks sort of like the Omnitrix." Grandpa Max then tell Ben, "Well, your gut instincts are good, Ben. What do you think?" So Ben tells Grandpa Max while Rook and Ruby listen in while their eating, "Well, I was thinking we should probably be more proactive. Instead of waiting for the creature to just randomly jump us again, we should be trying to find it." Rook and Ruby gasp realizing he stole that idea from Rook as Ben tells Grandpa Max, "Maybe we can trick this thing into showing itself. You know, lure it out into the open." Ruby starts growl ferally at that as Ben starts to wince with that growl directed at him as Grandpa Max tells Ben, "Good thinking, Ben. And judging from Ruby's growling, you took this idea from someone else, didn't you?"

Ben sulks at this saying with a groan, "Okay, it was Rook's idea. But we have to figure out how to get that thing out to catch us." Ruby thinks on this as she gasps with a bark with her tail wagging excitedly telling them, "I got an idea! Follow me, boys!" Ruby sets the bowl down as she, Ben and Rook go into a different room to discuss a plan to take it down.

* * *

About two hours later, all three teenagers made it to Undertown to watch out for the blue dog and any of its alien forms. Ruby is wearing her cloak as a crimson hooded vest. As the three walk down the street, Ben tells Rook and Ruby, "Now, just play it cool, and maybe we can flush out the creature. It can transform, so it could be anyone." Ruby nods saying, "Yeah, so all we have to do is remain calm and let out guts tell us what to do." Rook suddenly stops as he grabs a nearby alien, shows his badge and throws him at a wall as he then uses his Proto-Tool to scan the alien. When he picks up nothing, Rook then says, "He is clean." Ruby and Ben look very shocked at this turn of events as the alien leaves grumbling at what happened. Ben then asks Rook, clearly annoyed at what he did, "What the heck are you doing?!" So Rook answers, "Eliminating suspects."

But Ben and Ruby walk up to him as Ben tells Rook angrily, "We're supposed to be cool and calm!" Rook answers calmly, "I was being cool and calm." Ben then gets angry and yells at Rook, "In what universe?!" So Ruby pipes up saying, "A universe where that Rookie wears leather and spikes, along with speaking in contractions making him a teensy bit hotter?" Rook nearly blushes at this as he tells Ben motioning to the dent in the wall he made, "You have to admit, that was kind of cool." Ruby laughs a little at that as Ben tells Rook annoyed, "Just act normal, okay?" Rook then once again tells Ben, "You act normal, Ben. Ruby and I have a job to do."

Ben shakes his head and turns around to walk away saying, "We don't have a job to do. We're superheroes, not cops!" Rook scoffs saying, "Hardly." Ben then suddenly pauses in his walk as Ruby face palms saying, "Uh-oh." Ben then starts to get a little angry as he walks up to Rook asking him, "Excuse me?! Do you know-!" Rook answers the rest of the question telling him, "How many times you have saved this universe? By yourself? Zero. Every time, there has always been someone else there to help you!"

Alien vendors and customers nearby hear the fight going on and realize there's some action going on. Ruby looks back and forth between the boys and can't help but get worried about them. Ben scoffs then telling Rook, "Heh, like you were there." Rook then yells while glaring at Ben, "We have been there! We have already saved you countless times, and we have only known you for a few weeks! I'm surprised you made it this far."

Ben then yells at Rook, planning to slam down the Omnitrix, "You want to start something?! Is that what this is about?!" Aliens had come over and cheered loudly wanting a fight to start as Ruby quickly gets between the boys while facing Ben as she yells at them, "Stop it, both of you! That's enough! We're supposed to fight bad guys, not each other. So stop acting like babies and make up already!" Rook growls angrily as he yells at Ruby, "Why do you defend him?! Ben is not worthy of being a hero!" Ruby turns to glare at Rook telling him, "Because he's my friend, no matter how selfish and immature he may be at times. You on the other hand, are starting to become someone I don't want to be with! The Rook Blonko I know would never talk bad about his friends like this! I'm starting to seriously wonder if my imprinting on you was a mistake!"

Rook glares angrily at Ruby as he then tells her and Ben, "It must be then, because you and I are done, Ruby Bloodmoon. And as for you Ben, I will not start something. I am going to end something: Such as this partnership and my relationship!" Ruby looks shocked, sad and angry as Rook turns to walk away. Ruby suddenly breaks down crying as she drops to her knees and sobs as Ben walks over to her and tries to comfort her as the aliens that crowded around them leave. Ben helps her up telling Ruby, "Come on, Rubes. Let's get out of here." Ruby nods in sadness as they both walk the other direction as Ben growls telling himself, "Who needs that guy anyway? Some new partner and friend you turned out to be."

Ruby still sobs as Ben leads her away, the both of them along with Rook not knowing that a certain hunter and his hunting dog had watched everything from further away.

* * *

Ben and Ruby continue walking as Ben tries to comfort the still sobbing Ruby as Rook suddenly speeds by them in the Proto-TRUK as the dust left behind covers them as Ben yells out at Rook, "Oh, so you're just gonna ditch us here?! Real mature!" Ruby looks up and calls out to Rook angrily with tears still in her eyes, "Yeah, I guess chivalry really is dead!" Rook then backs up beside them as Ben tells him, "That's more like it." But instead of picking them up, Rook throws Ben's new hoodie and hoverboard at him and drives off as Ruby looks disappointed as Ben then yells out realizing something, "Wait, I think Ruby and I left our new Plumber's badges in there!"

Rook suddenly stops and parks the car as Ruby yells out to Rook, "Yeah, heartbreaker! How will we be able to get anything done without them?! Especially since I need that badge to hold my cloak together!" So Rook calls out to them, "Like you two are deserving of one." Rook then throws two badges out of the car and backs up, destroying them as he makes them spin fast and drives off as Ben and Ruby sigh dejectedly as they lost their partner and friend.

* * *

Back from above, Khyber's dog snarls in anger as Khyber suddenly gets a transmission message from his employer as shown as a holographic image through his glove. His employer is a Cerebrocrustacean, which is similar to Ben's alien form, aka Brainstorm. But this Cerebrocrustacean is evil as his name is Dr. Psychobos. This alien is a purple Cerebrocrustacean with pink eyes. Five years ago, after Malware took down eleven year old Ben Tennyson when he touched the Omnitrix, got an imprint aka blueprint of it on his skin, and made his way to the lair of Dr. Psychobos. Malware and Dr. Psychobo's plan was to create a new, better and superior Omnitrix, an evil version. And apparently, Cerebrocrustaceans think of themselves as better than Galvans. However, he was lacking something. Can you guess? Alien DNA samples. And how was he going to get them? Simple, Khyber and his hunting dog.

Dr. Psychobos then tells Khyber, "I'm beginning to wonder if you are the right g-gentleman for this job." So Khyber then tells the evil crab, "These unique quarries require a studied approach." Dr. Psychobos scoffs at Khyber telling him, "I could have written a dozen textbooks in the time you've taken to study Ben 10! And would you forget about that half-Loboan! She is not important to this mission! Obtain the DNA samples from him – now! Or consider our ag-greement terminated! Do we understand each other?" Khyber growl, telling him, "Perfectly."

The message is gone as Khyber then tells his dog, "Bring them to me." The dog run leaping from sign to sign to catch it's prey. Will Ruby and Ben get away from it? Will Rook come and help out after all? Or will both teens be captured prey? Stay tuned to find out.

* * *

And this is the end of Of Predators and Prey Part 1 (1)! No spells this chapter.

Stay tuned for the second part sometime in the future.


	19. CH 19 Of Predators and Prey Part 1 (2)

Welcome to the second part of Of Predators and Prey Part 1! I hope you all liked the first part of it. I'm going to be busy in the near future, so please be patient for chapters. After all, we all have lives outside of fanfiction.

Now onto the next chapter...This new chapter includes the rest of the first part which includes bad guy beating, Ruby with no Rook, new alien cuteness and prey catching. WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I hope that you like this chapter! Please review if you wish!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 19: Of Predators and Prey Part 1 (2)

Right now, Ben and Ruby are walking around Undertown, with Ben wearing his new hoodie and riding on his hover board while Ruby walks beside him. Ruby had decided to put the clasp she used to use for the cloak on it which is a metal wolf head. Ruby still looks down and upset with what just happened in that fight with Rook. Rook and Ruby have never fought like that before about anything and she is very worried and upset without him by her side. Ben watches her and frowns at this, hating to see his best friend upset. So he calmly tells Ruby, "Hey, Rubes? Don't worry about what happened with Rook, okay? Maybe you'll find someone else that's meant to be your imprintee." Ruby shakes her head forlornly telling Ben, "I'm afraid that's impossible, Benji. You don't know the first thing about imprinting or how it works."

Ben looks at her confused as he asks her, "Really? Well why don't you enlighten me and explain it so I can understand it better?" Ruby nods as she tells Ben, "Imprinting is a lot like love at first sight, in fact it's more than that. When you meet someone for the first time by looking into their eyes, there's a kind of magnetic universal pull that's even stronger than gravity itself. It binds both souls together, kind of like a red string of fate made out of an unbreakable steel cable. That very person becomes the only thing that matters to you with everything else being secondary and the only thing that you practically live for. And it's like the universe is letting you know that you have found the one you're meant to be with forever, thus imprinting.

So basically, it's more like a stronger magical love at first sight deal." Ben looks at her shock and in awe as Ruby continues telling Ben, "So you see, Ben? Rook and I were meant to be together the moment we met. Rook and I can't fall in love with anyone else, just each other. Love is a very powerful thing, Benji. It has no boundaries, no limits, and no limitations. But now that Rook is gone, and our bond is destroyed, which was supposed to be completely and by-all-means impossible to break, I can never fall in love again. In fact, it's a miracle I'm not just lying down in a dead heap of never-ending sadness, misery and despair, completely giving up on living and slowly waiting until my sorrow finally takes my life right now...Although that is what I feel like doing right now and it feels very tempting..."

Ben looks at her shocked, upset and worried at her explanation as he then asks her, "Wow... S-so this imprinting thing with you and Rook is really that serious? Your not just being overly dramatic about it or making any of this up? Your really considering on giving up living?" Ruby nods forlornly with tears coming out of her eyes as Ben then turns away from her with a sad expression on his face as he asks her, "Then...If that's really the case, I guess I'm gonna be losing another partner huh?" Ruby shakes her head as she smiles sadly at Ben as she tells him, "The thing is Ben, I'm not really sure at the moment."

Ben looks at her confused as Ruby continues saying, "At the moment, both of our lives are in danger, Benji. And although, I might not be as concerned for myself as I was before, I'm more worried about you. So until I know for certain that you're safe from whatever is after us, I'll at least try to stay strong long enough to be here to help you. However, I hope that it won't come to that, because I also hope that after Rook cools down from the fight, he'll find us both and we can get back together again."

Ben smiles sadly and happily at her as he tells her calmly, "Thanks, Ruby. You're officially the bravest girl I know. I don't think there's any other girl with your definition of bravery. I really am sorry about that whole fight, Rubes. And I know I don't really understand what your going through, but I do know that you can't give up on living. Even though Rook is your only reason for living, you guys just broke up, he's not dead or anything, so you can still keep on going as long as you know that he's still alive, safe and kicking even if you two aren't together, right?

Plus, you still have me, my family, the Saturdays and your mom and whatever friends you have in the universe. As long as you have those people in your life, you'll never be alone. Plus if I remember correctly, you still need to find your dad, and you can't very well do that if you give up living, don't ya think?" Ruby stares at Ben wide-eyed and then smiles and kisses his cheek telling him, "Thanks, Benji. I really needed to hear that." Ben blushes but he smiles, glad he made her happy for the moment.

* * *

Both teens then stop by a kind of saloon in Undertown as Ben asks Ruby, "Besides, Rook's not the only one who knows how to get information out of people." Ben puts his hover board in his pocket as he shrinks it as Ruby gives a small smile in determination telling Ben, "Yeah, we'll show him how real heroes get things done." Ben and Ruby walk into the saloon opening the doors as both sit by the bar stools as Ben asks the alien in charge, "We're looking for a ravenous alien dog. Don't suppose you know where we can find one, do you?" Ruby nods telling the alien in charge, "Yeah, it's dangerous, deadly and very annoying."

So the alien tells the teens, "Try the Pound, kids." Ben then narrows his eyes at the alien telling him gruffly, "This one changes forms, causes mass destruction, usually tries to kill me and my partner here." The alien then tells them while cleaning a glass, "Try a psychiatrist then." Ben scoffs as Ruby shakes her head disappointedly at her friend as Ben asks the alien bartender, "Don't you know who we are?!" So the alien bartender then tells them, "Miss Ruby here, I know. You on the other hand, I don't care. Not unless one of you want an Andorian Turglbaster. Then you're my customers. If not, you're just taking up space where paying customers could be."

Ben then proceeds to glare at the bartender, but he gave up when he wouldn't budge as him and Ruby leave the establishment as Ben tells Ruby, "Rook made this look so easy." Ruby nods telling him as they walk away, "Probably because he looked tribal and primal or something like that. He can be pretty intimidating when he wants to be." Ruby looks down in sadness looking like she's about to cry again as Ben pats her shoulder as Ruby smiles a little at the kind gesture.

Both teens then keep on walking as Ben then asks Ruby, "Hey, Ruby? You're the animal expert. How do you lure a vicious alien dog out? Treats? Chew toys? Giant alien tennis balls?" Ruby has a thinking face telling Ben, "Well, considering that the dog that keeps fighting us seems to never have had a treat, chew toy or tennis ball before, I'd say we use a dog whistle like the one we heard. And I know the perfect place to get one."

Ben smiles asking her, "Really? Where?" Ruby jerks her thumb to the store behind her saying, "Pakmar's Pet Store. I happen to know the alien that owns this establishment. I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Ben nods, but for some reason the name 'Pakmar' sounds familiar. Both teens go inside and they both see a little alien Ben met before he met Ruby and Rook as he calls out in shock, "Pakmar?!"

Pakmar smiles looking happy to get a customer after he fed something but frowns when he sees the boy as he tells Ruby and Ben, "Oh, it's you. You blew up my last place – Pakmar's place. Go away now! Oh, and hi, Miss Ruby! Congrats on being Plumber!" Ruby looks at Ben shocked as she asks him, "You met him before? And you destroyed his last shop?!"

Ben shakes his head telling her, "Yeah, I met him just before I met you and Rook. And no, I did not. It was those guys that had those shakedown machines." Ruby then nods in understanding as Ben tells Pakmar, "Sorry about that. But we need your help with something. We're hoping you have a special kind of alien dog whistle." Pakmar grins asking Ben, "You actually want to buy something from Pakmar? Really?"

Ruby nods as she goes down to her knees and asks Pakmar, "Only if it's not too much trouble. We only need it to test something, so we may not be buying today. But don't worry though, I'll still pay you though." Pakmar nods ecstatically telling her, "Okay!" Pakamar then runs over to a shelf and brings over a white box filled with all kinds of whistles.

Then Ben tells Pakmar, "Now we need you to blow each whistle for us while I'm in alien form and Ruby in her Loboan form." Pakmar nods as Ruby turns into her Loboan form and Ben activates the Omnitrix asking it, "Okay, Omnitrix. Give me Humungousaur!" But instead he turned into Wildmutt as Ruby smirks telling him, "Huh, this time it gave you what you really needed." Ben/Wildmutt growls at that as Pakmar begins blowing whistles.

When they didn't work, Ben/Wildmutt would either break or eat them causing Pakmar to want retribution for them, thus making Ruby irritated she had to pay for them all. Pakmar then ecstatically says because of this, "At this rate, Pakmar will be able to retire! Good customers." Suddenly, the same whistle from Khyber and his dog sounds out causing Ben/Wildmutt and Ruby to howl in pain as Ben turns back to normal and when it stops Ben tells Pakmar happily, "That's the one!"

Pakmar confusedly tells Ben and Ruby, "What's it? There is no it. Pakmar did nothing." Ruby then gulps in fear saying, "If that's true, then that means…" The alien dog roars very loudly from outside as the pets tanks and cages inside the store break, fall down and/or destroyed causing them to run free! All animals run and fly away freely as Pakmar yells at Ben and Ruby, "You two!" Ben and Ruby then tells Pakmar, "Us?!"

Pakmar then yells at them, telling them, "Out! Out of Pakmar's new place while Pakmar still has some new place left!" Pakmar walks away just as the dog walks in and grabs both Ben and Ruby's legs as both teens yell as their then thrown out of the pet store as both crash on the ground as alien citizens run in terror until only Khyber and the dog are left with Ben and Ruby.

* * *

The alien dog then walks out of the pet store and makes it's way to it's master staying side by side with him as Ben and Ruby smirk at each other, realizing they found the dog and it's hunter as Khyber tells the teens, "Ben Tennyson and Ruby Bloodmoon." Ruby and Ben then stand up as Ben tells Khyber confidently, "Well, what do you know? It worked."

Ruby nods as both teens turn to face Khyber as Ruby says confidently, "See? Told you I was right. Trolling around Undertown using ourselves as bait, and lookie what we caught: The hunter and his dog." Ben then smirks telling Khyber, "So, big guy, you gonna let your puppy keep fighting your battles for you?"

Then Ruby smirks telling Khyber, "Or will you rise up for a change?" Khyber growls as he charges for them as Ben prepares to slam the Omnitrix as Ruby prepares to fight, but Khyber grabs a hand from each of them and pins them to the wall, causing them to cry out in pain. Khyber then tells them, glaring at them, "No, I'll take care of you two myself." Ruby and Ben are starting to look scared now as Ruby is too scared to say a spell as Ben is trying to reach for his Omnitrix, but Khyber proceeds to punch them, but when he did, it caused them to be let go.

But luckily for the heroes, Khyber's fist got stuck in the wall as both teens walk 'til their behind the hunter as Ben tells Ruby, "You know what, Rubes? I don't think any of us have been properly introduced." Ruby gasps in understanding to telling Ben, "You're right, Ben! I don't think we did. You go first." Ben nods to her and tells her then Khyber, "Thank you. My name is Ben Tennyson and that's Ruby Bloodmoon, we're the kids who are about to kick your sorry butt. And you are?" Ruby nods, telling Khyber angrily, "Yeah, introduce yourself. It's very rude to keep a lady such as myself waiting."

Khyber then proceeds in answering them saying, "The last thing you two will ever see." Khyber then lets out a whistle from his gills as Ruby groans in pain, as Ben tells Khyber as he didn't hear the whistle, "Dude, if I had a nickel for every time we heard that, we'd-!" The alien dog then comes crashing into them. When it was about to again, both teens leaped away from it with a backflip and finally, Khyber pulls his arm free as he tells them, "You two are gullible, like simple prey."

Both teens look confused, but Ben smirks as he slams down the Omnitrix, but for some reason it's not working as it has a yellow triangle with a black exclamation point symbol as Ben tells the Omnitrix angrily and annoyed, "Oh, why, Omnitrix? Why?! Is this supposed to be funny? Because we're not laughing."

Ruby laughs though saying, "I am!" She laughs until the alien dog charges for them once again, but both teens dodge as Ben pulls out his hover board and makes it big when he says, "Time to make like a tree and get out of here!" Ben hops on as Ruby calls out, "Aura angelus pennas!" Red aura angel wings appear on Ruby's back while in Loboan form as she flies beside Ben as both laugh. Khyber orders his dog to fetch them as Ben and Ruby keep on going with the dog behind them as Khyber then aims a high-tech energy gun at the suspension cables at a sign that hang from the ceiling and fires causing it to fall down to the ground, blocking the path.

Both teens got away from it and turned around going in the opposite direction. But they temporarily forgot about the alien dog until Ben jumps over it and Ruby goes higher away from it as Ben calls out to the alien dog, "Aw, too bad, so sad, puppy!" Ruby wolf snickers at this, but Khyber manages to shoot down another sign to block them as they turn around and missed the charging alien dog once more.

Ben and Ruby grin at the sign their approaching Ben skates/hovers on it into the air as Ruby soars beside him. Both teens whoop and holler doing this while Khyber aims his energy gun at them while saying as he chuckles a bit, "You can't fly away from me, little birdies." It hits it's mark, destroying to hover board as Ruby quickly catches Ben while exclaiming, "No, not the hover board! I wanted to ride it!"

Ben frowns a little as he tells Ruby, "Sorry, Rubes." Both teens land on the ground as the red aura angel wings disappear as Khyber appears at the top of the sign as he asks both his prey, "Any last words, prey?" A beeping sound then catches the teen's attention as they saw the Omnitrix working now! Ruby sighs in relief saying, "Thank goodness!"

* * *

Ben then smirks as he tells Khyber before slamming down the Omnitrix, "For me, how about…So long, sucker!" Ben slams down the Omnitrix turning into Crashhopper as Ruby latches on around his neck as he hops into the air then lands on the ground in a show of confidence as Khyber tells them, "Fight back all you want. There is a predator for every kind of prey."

Khyber then does the whistle sound as his dog leaped in the air and Ruby groans in pain as the dog turned into the big giant that took down Crashhopper last time, aka Mucilator. Ruby and Ben/Crashhopper gasp as the shape-shifting hero throws Ruby into Pakmar's shop while Mucilator fell on him. When Ruby landed, she gasped at the site, but luckily, Ben turned into another alien aka Armadrillo. He lifts up Mucilator and throws him away into another direction, but the whistle blows once again as Ruby groans in pain once more as Mucilator turns into Slamworm! It dives into the ground as it comes up below Ben/Armadrillo as he is flung to the sign where Khyber is as he then turns into Heatblast, cushioning his fall with heat blast's fire powers.

Ruby runs out of the shop and realizes she can't fight Mucilator by herself so she brings out her red aura angel wings once more with the spell and flies to help Ben/Heatblast who is going after Khyber as the hunter tries to escape. In a different alley, Ruby and Ben/Heatblast land in front of Khyber as the wings disappear as Ben/Heatblast tells Khyber, "Now who's got nowhere to run? Not so funny when the shoe's on the other foot!" Ruby nods telling Khyber and her friend, "Yeah, Benji here defeated Vilgax the Conqueror, Dagon The Destroyer – by the way Benji, awesome on that – and I helped Zak Saturday defeat V.V. Argost the Yeti Man and many other villains and took down many hunters. So what makes you think you're any better than them?!"

Khyber smirks telling them, "Experience." The ground then starts to shake as suddenly Mucilator turned into Crabdozer and charges for the teens and hits them hard as they crash through signs and land inside Pakmar's store. Ruby gets up groaning in pain as she shakes her head telling Ben/Heatblast, "Dude, I don't think I can take much more of this! We need Humungousaur or at least Alien X if you could get him." The boy nods telling Ruby as he pants, "I know what you mean. For once, and I really hate saying this, but I think I'll need Alien X."

Ben/Heatblast then asks the Omnitrix before slamming it down, "Come on, new Omnitrix! Would it kill you to give me Humungousaur or maybe Alien X? Just this once!" But instead it turns him into a new alien. This alien is an insectoid which is a small bug-like alien. He's yellow with black eyes and green pupils. He also has four stick legs and a beak along with a big antennae. And the Omnitrix symbol is on a green and white brace around his neck.

Ruby gasps in awe as her eyes twinkle at the new little cute alien as Ben/New Alien says in a high squeaky kind of voice, "Whoa! This is a new one! What can it do? I got to have something going for me other than the power of cuteness!" Ruby squeals in delight as she pick him up and hugs him to her while saying, "You can say that again! Look at you! You're the cutest, adorablest and mega cutest alien/creature I've ever seen! You're even cuter than the Screegit! I just want to hug ya and squeeze ya until your eyes pop!" Ben/New Alien blushes and struggles in Ruby's vice-grip hug telling her as he's squished against her body, "Um, thanks, Ruby…I think? But do you think you could let go of me now? Cause your kinda crushing me here!"

Ruby, realizing she's squeezing Ben/New Alien too hard, quickly lets go of him as she tells him, "Oh! Sorry Ben! Sometimes I forget how strong I am." He hops back onto the ground after she says this and tells her, "It's okay Rubes. I like the love, I just don't like it when it's crushing me to death. Well, better cross Ditto off the cutest aliens I have." Khyber laughs at this at the sight as he aims his energy gun at them while saying, "Far too easy."

He fires as both hero teens leap away from the blast as Ruby tells her friend, "Well, you have good agility if that counts, Benji." Ben/New Alien then suddenly hacks up a green ball of slime as he rolls it along with legs making it roll as Khyber tells him, "Hold still, vermin!" Ben/New Alien on the other hand tries to tell him, "I couldn't, even if I wanted to!" Ruby yells angrily at Khyber as her red aura appears behind her as she growls ferally, "And don't call him vermin! He's super adorable in that form!"

Ben/New Alien then gets out of control with the green ball of goop as he hops off of it and the green goop explodes as Khyber falls to the floor. Ruby gasps as she tells Ben/New Alien happily, "Dude, you have exploding loogies! I've got the perfect name for this one if you don't mind. Ball Weevil! Ball because of your goop bombs and Weevil because you're a bug!"

* * *

Ben/Ball Weevil gasps saying, "I like it! It's perfect!" Suddenly Crabdozer appears as Ben/Ball Weevil hacks another green goo ball as he rolls it around all over the place as Ruby stays close by as Khyber blows the whistle once more as Ruby groans in pain while holding her ears as she looks at Khyber and gasps, realizing Khyber is the whistle! Crabdozer then turns into a brand new alien/predator dubbed as a Terroranchula! Ruby gasps saying, "Uh-oh! Ben, that Terroranchula must be Ball Weevil's predator!" Terroranchula is white with four taranchula legs with spikes and light brown fur and fangs with a white body, red eyes and black pupils.

Ben/Ball Weevil then calls out to Ruby, "Get on the ball!" Ruby nods as she leaps up while helping Ben/Ball Weevil roll it around until it got really big. Once it was big enough, they roll it toward Terroranchula and the hunter as Ben/Ball Weevil yells out, "Look out, fang-face! We're coming through! Want some of this?!" Both leap off as Ruby calls out, "Incoming exploding loogie!" However, the Terroranchula made a red tech symbol thing with it's legs and the giant green goo ball is absorbed inside, making it disappear! Ruby and Ben gape in shock at this as Ben/Ball Weevil says, "I didn't mean that literally."

Ruby nods telling her friend as she yells, "I'm officially scared, dude. More loogies, stat!" Ben/Ball weevil hacks up more loogies and throws them at the creature while Ruby throws red aura balls and blasts, but each one is absorbed as then the Terroranchula jumps into the air and goes for them but the heroes leap out of the way. The giant spider alien then tries hit them with it's legs as both heroes dodge. Ruby then quickly grabs her bow and arrow and tries to fire arrows at the creature while Ben/Ball Weevil looks around on the ground. Nearby he sees a strange whistle and blows on it, and luckily for them, it affected the Terroranchula! Ruby gets to Ben/Ball Weevil telling him, "Dude, you found the right whistle!"

But unfortunately, Khyber shot at it, destroying it as Ben/Ball Weevil tells Ruby, "Too bad Rook wasn't here to see that shot." Ruby nods saying, "Yeah, he would have shook his head disappointedly. We have to get out of here." Ben/Ball Weevil nods as Khyber shoots some more rounds as Ben/Ball Weevil tells Ruby, "Rubes, you get out of here. I'll go through the pipe." Ruby nods as she quickly says, "Ad platea level!"

Ruby disappears in red smoke as Ben/Ball Weevil gets into a nearby pipe and tries to run to street level. Ben/Ball Weevil tries to talk to Rook through the Omnitrix while he climbs up through the pipe as Khyber shoots at him, "Hey, Rook? Anytime you want to…get over yourself and come help us! Seriously, Ruby's getting tired and if that whistle blows anymore, she's gonna end up passing out and we're both gonna end up in big trouble! Look, I don't know if Ruby told you this or not when you guys got together. But do you have any idea how serious your imprinting bond with her really is?!

Your break-up is affecting her big time! Both mentally and emotionally! She's trying so hard to stay strong and keep herself from falling apart right now, but at this rate, I might ended up losing her too and becoming a one-man team! Seriously man! Do you have any idea what the heck will happen to her if you two don't fix your relationship?! Do you really want her to get hurt, or worse...die from absolute heartbreak?! Look, you wanna still be mad at me? Fine! I can live with that! What I can't live with though is losing a friend like Ruby because of a major, and in this case, seriously fatal case of heartbreak! Listen, you and Ruby were best friends at the academy together right?

And just days ago you guys finally admitted to each other how you both really feel towards each other and finally became an item right? You're really gonna throw all that away over one stupid fight?! She still loves you man...and she'll never stop loving you. And I know that you feel the same for her too. So if there's really any chance that what I'm saying is true, and if not for my sake, than for both hers..and yours, please come back and help us before it's too late!"

Suddenly, a big enough blast explodes inside the pipe as Ben/Ball Weevil is jettisoned out of a sewer entrance where Ruby is nearby thanks to the spell. Ben/Ball Weevil falls towards her as she quickly catches him in her arms as she asks him getting worried, "You okay?!" Ben/Ball Weevil nods saying, "I think so. That hunter and his pet do not give up!" Ruby nods saying forlornly, "You can say that again. I wish Rookie was here." The Terroranchula comes out of the sewer as it hisses at the creatures of prey as Khyber is now beside it. Khyber whistles once more as Ruby whimpers in pain as the spider alien turns back to it's dog form.

Ben/Ball Weevil then asks Khyber tauntingly, "What's the matter? Can't finish what you started?!" Khyber smirks telling them, "Oh, I fully intended to finish. I was just letting my pet here play a bit." Ruby gasps realizing he planned this. Make them tired and they'll be easy prey. Ruby can't believe she didn't figure that out! Ben/Ball Weevil makes two more loogies throwing them at Khyber. But Khyber charges for them and bats them back as each one hits each of the two, knocking them down to the ground. Khyber chuckles as Ruby turns back to human form in exhaustion as Ben/Ball Weevil turns back to normal.

Ben falls to the ground with Ruby beside him as Khyber and his dog walk forward to them in victory as Ben tries to reach for his Omnitrix, but he is too weak as he faints. Ruby tries to get up, but she is too weak as she says weakly, "Rookie…wherever you are, please...help us." Khyber looks down at the girl, smirking as he tells her, "Don't you remember, Little Wolf? He doesn't care or love you anymore. But then again, why would he?" Khyber then kicks Ruby's side hard as Ruby yelps in pain as she whimpers a bit as she faints at the pain as her eyes tear up and close becoming lifeless. Khyber then lifts them up by their hoods as he says, "Yes. Finally, they are both mine!"

Khyber laughs evilly as both teens are hit by a soft wind, knowing they have lost…or have they? What these four didn't know was that an alien nearby watched all of it and growled in anger, hate and fury as his amber eyes were burning with a rage even more so and filled with unshed tears of anguish and regret for what happened to them, especially to the young Half-Loboan…

What will happen now? Will Ruby and Ben somehow manage to escape? Will Rook come and save them after all? And who came with him? To find out, stay tuned for more action as this book will soon come to a close!

* * *

And this is the end of this chapter! This one was fun and to think this book is about to come to a close and I'm so excited! Here are the translations to the Latin spells or spell you have seen in this chapter:

'Aura angelus pennas,' means 'Aura angel wings appear.'

'Ad platea level,' means 'To street level.'

Stay tuned for the next chapter sometime in the future.


	20. CH 20 Of Predators and Prey Part 2

Welcome to the last chapter of this book for you all to like, love and enjoy! I am so happy! It's been so long since I completed a story! Please read, leave good reviews, and get ready for Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 2 which will be on here between Thursday through Saturday sometime next keep an eye out! Also, I AM VERY SORRY I COULDN'T GET THIS CHAPTER OUT SOONER! I had decided to make the last chapter of this book into one whole chapter, my helper got sick, and summer began! Also, this chapter is very long, but please take your time reading it.

Now onto the next chapter...Again, this new chapter includes bad guy fighting, bonding, near death situation, a helper and most importantly, a new little friend for Ruby! Want to know what it is? Read and find out! WolfWitchHuntress1318 and I hope that you like this chapter! Please review if you wish!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ben 10 franchise. The only things I own in this story are my OCs. This is NOT a crossover with the Little Red Riding Hood fanfiction on this site. Thus, I do not own anything of the Little Red Riding Hood franchise. There will be mentions of the Secret Saturdays in this story, such as mentions of them knowing the OCs, especially for when the episode T.G.I.S. comes out. Thus, this is also NOT a crossover with Secret Saturdays. This is just a Ben 10 fanfic only! Also, I do not own anything of the Secret Saturday franchise. Cover Art belongs to Maximus Potter here on this site and deviantart, who has given me permission to use it as my Cover Art.

* * *

Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse: Book 1

Chapter 20: Of Predators and Prey Part 2

Continuing from last time…Khyber had just kidnapped and taken his prey, Ben Tennyson and Ruby Bloodmoon. About an hour later, Khyber had taken Ben and Ruby to his spaceship out in the forest that was a little far away from Ruby's home. Ruby had noticed this and growled after she and Ben woke up. When they did, Khyber had covered Ruby's mouth in a weird, surgical mask-looking alien device to muzzle her so she couldn't use her spells or her supersonic howls. Ruby growled angrily and tried to get the device off, but to no avail. Everyone is now in the spaceship as Khyber tied the two teens to a horn of a Crabdozer trophy head with their hands tied up as the two teens are now upside down as Ben and Ruby are back to back as all of Ruby's weapons and cloak have been stripped off of her including the flute, diary, spell book and bow and arrow, leaving Ruby in her outfit with no cloak.

Ruby is still trying to fight back like any animal would as Ben remains calm as the alien dog chews on a bone. Ruby then looks around the room and floor seeing trophies of hunted aliens and she gulps when seeing a Loboan pelt, but luckily it wasn't her father's so that made her sigh in relief, but still felt disturbed. Right now, Khyber is sharpening his blade as Ben asks Khyber after he learned his name earlier, "So, 'Khyber', is it? Love what you've done with the place. Who knew alien skulls had so many uses?" Ruby growls at that comment as Ben grins nervously telling Khyber, "Unlike Ruby here, can't say the same for her."

When Khyber doesn't say a thing, Ben then asks Khyber, "You know, this is usually when you evil dudes spell out your whole 'dominate the universe' plan, which we're sure you're dying to fill us in on." Ruby nods, her voice muffled as she says through the device, 'Yeah!' So Khyber then tells them, "Not really. The truth is, the hunting equipment – it's all pretty self-explanatory. I am the ultimate predator, and you two are the ultimate prey." Ruby muffles out in surprise saying through the device, 'Me?!' Ben was about to say something until a knife slashing noise catches his attention as he and Ruby close their eyes.

When they opened their eyes, the number ten was sliced off of Ben's hoodie and Ruby had winced in pain as she got cut on her cheek and a piece of her hair got cut off. On one of Khyber's knifes is the number 10 from Ben's hoodie and the other that was hanging from his belt was Ruby's blood as Khyber held a piece of her hair in his hand. Ruby gasps at that as she lets out a single tear. Ben growls angrily at that telling Khyber, "HEY! Didn't your mother ever teach you to never hurt a lady?! And you so owe me a new hoodie!"

Khyber leans closer telling them, "These souvenirs are but a taste. Your Omnitrix arm, Ben Tennyson, will be one of my greatest trophies. As for you, Ruby Bloodmoon, a half alien hybrid – especially with your Loboan and Human DNA – is very rare indeed, especially with your pelt. To have a half alien hybrid's pelt such as yours will be another great trophy." Ruby whimpers and gasps as Ben can't help but get angry at him for scaring her.

Khyber nods as he motions to a wall saying, "I'm thinking of placing the Omnitrix arm on my Geochelone Aerios shell mantel piece, right next to the Appoplexian skeleton, just above the Vulpimancer pelt. As for your pelt, Ruby Bloodmoon, I was thinking of putting it on my bed." Ruby gasps in shock just as Khyber throws the knife that holds Ben's piece of hoodie at one of the skeleton's hands, breaking it off as both teens gulp as their both hoping that somehow Rook will come save them.

* * *

Khyber then walks over to grab the knife off the wall as Ben scoffs telling Khyber, "What? You think you're the first big bad who wanted to hack off my Omnitrix arm?" After Ben said this, Ruby raises her voice a little louder so she could speak more clearly through the device as she says, "Or wanted to get my pelt?" Ben smiles, happy that she can speak clearly now as he then tells Khyber, "Yeah, creeps like you have been trying and failing, by the way since I was 10…" Ruby smiles saying, "…and for me, since I was almost ten."

Ben nods the telling Khyber, "Yeah, and one dude even had my Omnitrix arm crawling around the Null Void without me!" Ruby gapes at Ben asking him, "Really?! Man, I wish I could have seen that!" Khyber then laughs telling them, "If you are attempting to stall for time so your partner can come swooping in to your rescue, I'm afraid you two will be sorely disappointed.

We witnessed your little tiff and breakup in Undertown, including the destruction of your Plumber badges. Your Revonnan friend couldn't track you two here even if he wanted to." Ruby growls angrily at that as Khyber then tells Ben, "First, your cousin and her Osmosian mate abandon you, and now Rook." He chuckles then telling Ben, "You really ought to treat your partners better, Tennyson. I'm surprised at how Miss Bloodmoon has managed to stay with you."

Ben then smirks telling him, "Well, there are many reasons for that. For one, she's cool and I like her. She's like the sister I never knew I wanted til I met her. Two, she's scorching hot! But she's too good for me anyway. And three, on my list of people to be my Plumber hero partner for life, Ruby's number 1. I couldn't get rid of her even if I wanted to." Ruby blushes at that and smiles as Ben continues talking, motioning to the alien dog, "And at least I don't make my partners do all the work while I take all the credit. I mean, the mutt is clearly the brains of the operation, right?" Khyber snaps telling the heroes, "He is not a mutt. He is an extremely well-trained Anubian Baskurr."

Ruby then smirks telling Ben, "Told you I was right about the species." Ben nods as he then tells Khyber, "Yeah, except it's wearing a cheap Omnitrix wannabe." Khyber then walks over telling Ben ominously, "Courtesy of an old friend of yours – Malware." Ben gasps in shock and fear as Ruby looks confused but dares not to say a thing as Khyber smirks telling Ben, "Now that I have your attention…It seemed Malware somehow managed to obtain crucial but flawed design specs for your Omnitrix. He sought the aid of a Cerebrocrustacean – Dr. Psychobos – who was able to reverse-engineer a workable facsimile, the-!" Ruby then calls out with a smile asking, "Hold it! Can I guess the name? Did he call it something like, oh I don't know, the Nemetrix?"

Khyber looks shocked asking the girl, "How did you know that?" So Ruby tells Khyber with a smile, "Just a hunch. And if I was a bad guy, I would have named it the same way!" Ben and Ruby laugh at that as Khyber growls as he continues telling them, "It was only missing one critical element – Predator DNA. So, naturally, they sought out the greatest huntsman in the galaxy." Ben then smirks asking tauntingly, "Really? Who was that?" Ruby nods asking with a smirk, "Yeah, was it human or alien?" Khyber snaps telling them, "Any more remarks like that, children, and I will collect those smart tongues of yours!"

Ruby and Ben then quickly shut their mouths as Khyber continues telling them, "I hunted down all the fiercest, most savage predators in the galaxy and procured their DNA for the Nemetrix. All that was left to do then was find a willing test subject to wield the device for us. Fortunately, there was no shortage of candidates to be found in the Null Void – willing or unwilling. It was a human Plumber that you may know, Phil." Ben gasps saying, "So that's what happened that day five years ago!"

Ruby looks confused as Khyber explains that Phil had attacked Ben, Gwen and Grandpa Max five years ago on summer vacation by Phil when he was a Terroranchula. Sometime during the fight, Phil lost control of the Terroranchula form and turned back to normal. Phil was Grandpa Max's old Plumber partner until he went bad and was locked in the Null Void. Unfortunately, they could not help him as he suddenly disappeared.

Ben then goes shocked as he tells Khyber, "That was you testing out the Nemetrix." Khyber then continues saying, "A test which eventually proved a failure. Alas, a higher-functioning creature such as a 'Phil' could not hand the savage feral nature of the Nemetrix."

Ruby's eyes then widen in understanding as she says while blood from her cut cheek spills to her forehead and to the ground, "So you let the dog here get their paws dirty for you instead." The alien dog growls at the girl angrily as Ruby looks into eyes of it and gasps seeing something that Khyber did not see. Khyber then snaps his fingers, causing the alien dog to calm down and sit as Khyber tells the teens, "With the dog being feral himself, has no higher function than absolute loyalty."

Ben scoffs telling Khyber, "He'd have to be lacking in higher function to be loyal to you." Khyber holds up a knife telling them, "You two would do well to show respect to the greatest huntsman in the Galaxy." Ben scoffs telling Khyber, "If you're so great, how come it took you five years to capture me and weeks to capture Ruby? It took Vilgax five minutes." Ruby smirks as well telling Khyber, "Yeah, and it took V.V. Argost like, one minute! And that was only because I was willing to sacrifice myself to save my older/little brother figure, Zak Saturday!"

* * *

Khyber growls angrily and rushes to kill them as Ruby and Ben flinch as Khyber then tells them, "I could destroy you two now!" But he then turns around with the knife behind his back as he says, "But…I would lose my bargaining power with my associates." While he said that, Ben and Ruby grin at each other as both move their hands to the knife and start cutting the ropes off as Ben then tells Khyber, "You really ought to watch that temper."

Ben and Ruby then grunt as they swing in the opposite direction and start swinging to Khyber as Ruby exclaims, "And your weapons!" Both teens hit him knocking him down as Ben calls out saying, "So get ready to throw down with Humungousaur and Wolf Girl!"

Ben slams down the Omnitrix as Ruby reaches her claws to her feet and cuts off the ropes as she lands to the ground on her feet and finally rips the device off her mouth as she smirks evilly, glad to be free as Ben did not get Humungousaur once more as he then instead turns into Rath.

Ruby gasps in happiness seeing Rath as she rushes to get her cloak and the rest of her things putting them back on her as he breaks free as he roars telling Khyber, "LET ME TELL YA SOMETHING, SELF-PROCLAIMED GREATEST HUNTSMAN IN THE GALAXY – RATH IS NOT HUMUNGOUSAUR, BUT RATH IS GONNA MAKE YOU HUMUNGOU-SORRY THAT YOU KIDNAPPED ME AND RUBY 'SCORCHIN' HOT' BLOODMOON, ALONG WITH HURTING HER!" Ruby grins even more, hugging Ben/Rath's arm telling him, "Finally! I missed you, Rathie! Ready to bring the hurt?!"

Ben/Rath smirks with a growl as he tells her, "LET ME TELL YA SOMETHING, RUBY 'SCORCHIN' HOT' BLOODMOON, EX-GIRLFRIEND OF ROOK BLONKO, RATH IS READY TO BRING THE HURT AND THE PAIN TO KHYBER!" Ruby than frowns as she tells Ben/Rath, "Okay, the 'ex-girlfriend' thing still really hurts dude." Ben/Rath looks down in shame as he says, "Sorry Rubes." The alien dog gets in front of the hunter as Ruby turns her bow and arrow into a whip as Ben/Rath yells at the alien dog, "Really? YA WANT A PIECE OF US, PUPPY DOG?! THEN IT'S GO TIME, MAN!"

The alien dog jumps for him as both go through a little tussle as Ruby watches entranced as Khyber watches as well, not making a move on her as Ruby says, "Now this is a fight." Ben/Rath and the alien dog keep fighting as they roll around as Khyber then proceeds to punch Ruby, but she blocks it and flips away.

Khyber then stops the fight as he tells his alien dog, "Enough playing. Their mine." Ruby sighs annoyed saying, "Of course." Khyber throws his knifes away and cracks his knuckles. He then snaps his fingers, making the dog sit, but Ben/Rath shoves it away as it whines. Ben/Rath then angrily tells Khyber, "LISTEN HERE, YOU DOG-LOVING, OMNITRIX-COPYING, PAIN IN OUR BUTTS! RATH IS DECLARING THIS KHYBER THE HUNTSMAN HUNTING SEASON!"

Ben/Rath and Khyber charge for each other as Ruby stays behind just in case Ben/Rath needs her. Ben/Rath and Khyber throw a couple of punches and kicks as Ruby then charges in with a supersonic howl, but it misses as Khyber grabs both teens and throws them at the skeleton as it breaks.

Khyber then tells them, "As you two can see, I have already taken advantage of Appoplexian hunting season." Ben/Rath gets angry yelling, "KHYBER SEASON!" He then punches Khyber as the hunter hits the wall saying, "Rath season!" Then Khyber kicks Ben/Rath who hits the floor, yelling, "KHYBER SEASON!" Then it happens over and over again as Ruby watches amused as she laughs when suddenly the alien dog sits beside her, not attacking. Ruby looks at the dog as the dog looks at her.

Both glare at each other as Ruby tells the dog, "I know what gender you really are. You're a girl, aren't you?" The dog nods growling as Ruby smirks saying, "Yeah, I figured." Ruby than makes a red aura wall and pushes the alien dog to the wall, knocking her out. Ruby then charges over to Ben/Rath to help him defeat Khyber, but he then knocks them to the ground, pinching a part of them on their necks, as they fall to the ground with Ben/Rath and Ruby turning back to human form as that pinch temporarily paralyzed them as Ben groans asking, "What did you…" Ruby groans in pain as well saying, "That really hurt…"

Khyber grabs his knifes telling them as he lifts them by the hands, "Hephaestan Neuro Grip. Useful for subduing all manner of prey. My partners are just going to have to take you in pieces, Tennyson. As for you, Bloodmoon, I'll have to cut off your pelt while your awake!" Ruby and Ben are now looking very scared as Ruby howls for help, "HELP!"

* * *

The call for help echos off the walls and all over the ship as Khyber tells them both, "No one will come to help you, foolish one. Hold still, now, you two. This won't hurt for long." Suddenly, Khyber is shocked with a taser-like device knocked out as he had let go of Ruby and Ben as coming through the doorway with a weapon that was fired at Khyber was…Rook Blonko. Ruby gasps happily with a bark as Rook says, "Surprise!" Ruby quickly says a spell, "Khyber tenentur minibus." Khyber's hands are now bound by red aura handcuff as Ruby runs over to Rook, jumps and hugs him tightly around the neck as Rook hugs her back just as tight as Rook tells her sighing in relief, "Oh, thank goodness I made it! Are you all right, Ruby Moon?"

Ruby tears up, nodding as she tells him, "I'm fine now that you're here. I was so worried!" Rook smiles tearfully as his eyes then zeroed in on the cut of her cheek as Rook cries out in shock, "Your face!" Ruby smiles telling Rook, "That doesn't matter now. Nothing a little magic can't fix." Rook nods as he and Ruby then walk over to Ben as – even though he smiled, happy that the couple is back together – Ben tells Rook annoyed, "Took you long enough! We had this guy telling us his whole life story, trying to buy time till you decided to waltz in."

Rook then tells Ben and Ruby, "I do not know how to waltz. However, my Earth-Culture text did make mention of a dance called-!" Suddenly a crash is sounded outside the room as a feminine voice yells out in anger, hate and fury, "WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS THAT HUNTER SO I CAN TEAR HIM LIMB FROM LIMB FOR KIDNAPPING AND HURTING MY BABY GIRL?!" Ben and Ruby look scared and shocked as Ruby then smirks at the knocked out Khyber saying, "He is SO in trouble." Making to the door was…Scarlet Bloodmoon, aka Ruby's mom. The woman has a dagger strapped to her waist along with a sword strapped to her back in it's sheath as she's wearing tan cargo shorts, brown hiking boots, and a black tank top with a red leather hooded jacket. Scarlet sees Ruby and gasps, running to her exclaiming, "RUBY!"

Scarlet and Ruby hug as if they haven't seen each other in years as Scarlet asks her, clearly worried, "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?! Oh, Moon! Your face!" They let go as Ruby smiles telling her mom, "I'm fine, Mom, really. Rook made it just in time. Our plan worked." Scarlet then looks confused asking her daughter, "Plan? What plan?" As Ben takes his hoodie off and throws it somewhere, Khyber wakes up and stands up, greatly confused as he asks, "Impossible. This ship is completely untraceable. A good hunter always hides his tracks."

Scarlet growls angrily at him as Ruby tries to calm her down as Ben tells Khyber, "I think we did a pretty good job hiding ours." Ben reveals his Plumber badge in his pants pocket as Ruby reveals her Plumber badge on the other side of her wolf head clasp. Khyber is shocked as he then tells Rook, "But i-in Undetown, I saw you crush-!" Rook then tells him holding up two soda cans, "These empty carbonated-beverage containers as Ruby calls them, 'soda cans'?"

Ben nods telling Khyber, "Yep, Rook's been tracking us this whole time. We staged our little fight to throw you off the scent. We made it so that is looked like not only did we break up the team…" Then Ruby continues saying, "…but also the same way with Rookie and me breaking up. Since we both never meant the bad stuff that we said to each other, our imprint bond still is, as well as always has been and always will be, completely unbreakable. Basically we did a triple fake breakup."

Rook nods as he then also says while glaring at Khyber hatefully, "And as I was tracking them, I saw what you did to my beloved on street level, and that made me as what Ruby calls, 'extremely pissed'! And I was not sure if the three of us could defeat you by ourselves, so that is why I invited and told Mrs. Bloodmoon of you kidnapping Ruby and Ben." Scarlet looks astounded and shocked as she then tells them, "That was ingenious! A bit worrisome on my part, but ingenious!"

Ben grins motioning to Ruby saying, "Yeah, it was Ruby's idea. We were at Plumber HQ and she came up with the plan. We had to think of what to say to each other to make it work perfectly. We even rehearsed it a couple of times before heading to Undertown. It worked just as we thought it would." Ruby blushes at the praise as Scarlet looks at her daughter impressed with a smile as Ben then tells Rook, "Not too shabby an acting job, partner." But Rook tells him, "For the stuff I said to you, I was not acting."

Ruby snickers as she starts to laugh as Ben realizes what he said as he angrily tells him, "Wait. So you actually meant all of that stuff you said about you and Ruby always having to save my butt?" Rook then answers with a smirk, "Like I did just now?" Scarlet the laughs as well as Ben angrily tells Rook, "But that was the plan! We let him capture us so you could track us back to his ship! This so doesn't count as a rescue." But then Khyber butts in saying, "Although, technically…"

But Ben interrupts him as he snaps telling Khyber, "Zip it, Skull face!" Khyber then starts to get angry telling Ben, "That is no way to address the Greatest Huntsman in the Galaxy!" Ruby then pipes up saying, "Uh, yeah about that. Not anymore!" Ben nods telling Khyber, "Yeah, you're not even the Greatest Huntsman in this room! Don't you recognize a trap when you see one?" Khyber then smirks telling them as Ruby gulps in fear, realizing what that means, "Apparently, neither do you."

* * *

Ruby gulps saying, "Oh, no." Khyber then makes that whistling noise through his gill and Ruby whimpers in pain at the noise as she starts to fall but Scarlet manages to grab her as the alien dog then transforms into Crabdozer. Crabdozer then charges pinning Ruby and Ben to a wall with one of it's legs as Scarlet calls out in fear, "Ruby!" Khyber then kicks Rook and Scarlet to a wall as they are now bound by a leg for each of them in some kind of hunter trap. Rook and Scarlet try to break free as Scarlet is starting to get scared as Khyber walks over to the two pinned teens, telling them, "I believe the Earth expression is 'playing possum.'"

As Ruby and Ben try to get their arms out of the grip of the leg, Crabdozer had already bit through the aura handcuffs, freeing Khyber. Scarlet had enough! It was one thing losing her husband, but losing her daughter, crossed the line! Scarlet immediately got angry at this site as a crimson aura surged through her and was shown all over body as her teeth gritted and eyes narrowed as Rook looks at Scarlet in stunned shock as he says, "Bralla Da…" Scarlet then utters a spell in her anger, "Crabdozer, vadant!"

Suddenly, Crabdozer was forced to let the two pinned teens go as it was controlled by a crimson aura. Khyber looked at this shocked as he turned to see Scarlet doing the whole thing. Scarlet, though she has no wolf DNA in her, growls angrily and hatefully at him as she yells at him, "As soon I get out of this thing, YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR HURTING MY DAUGHTER, YOU PSYCHOPATH!" Khyber is actually starting to look scared as Ben and Ruby managed to get away from Crabdozer as Ruby tells Ben, "Wow, I haven't seen her this angry since the time I was kidnapped by Argost. Note to self Ben: Never make her mad in our whole lives." Ben nods as he then activates the Omnitrix saying, "Agreed. It's Hero Time!"

Rook then calls out to Ben, "Wait, Ben! Remember that Crabdozer is the natural predator of a Pyronite. So do not turn into Heatblast!" Ben nods as Ruby turns back to Loboan form as Ben then says slamming down the Omnitrix, "Okay, Rook. But…since this new Omnitrix never gives me the alien I want, I should try to turn into Heatblast!" But when he slammed it down and transformed, he got…Heatblast. Ben/Heatblast complains at this saying, "Ah, man! Seriously?!" Ruby laughs at that saying, "I knew you'd get him! That Omnitrix loves messing with you, dude!"

Suddenly, Crabdozer lifts both teens up, throws them into the air and eats them, cooling Ben/Heatblast down extensively as as Crabdozer then barfs them back up. Scarlet shudders in disgust as Ruby and Ben – who had turned back to normal – also shudder in disgust as Ruby tries to shake the drool off of her as Ben complains saying while he stands up, "That thing's even uglier on the inside!" Ruby shudders saying, "This is why I don't watch horror movies. I hate seeing guts!" Ben then smirks as he then activates the Omnitrix again, flipping through it as he then says, "But now that the Omnitrix is giving me what I want for a change, let's get me some Humungousaur!"

Ben slams it down, but instead of the chosen alien, he got Armadrillo. Ruby laughs again as she tells him, "Dude, you're never going to get Humungousaur!" Ben/Armadrillo groans at this saying, "Why am I not surprised?!" Scarlet watches this whole thing confused, yet amused as she asks Rook, "Does he always have this problem?" Rook sighs and nods telling Scarlet, "Unfortunately, yes. Ruby tells me that when she comments like this on the wrong alien form of Ben's, she calls it a 'running gag,' though I do not know what that means." Scarlet laughs saying, "I do."

While the two were talking Khyber charges for both teens, but Ben/Armadrillo punches him, knocking him to the ground as Ben/Armadrillo calls out excitedly, "Oh, yeah! It's hammer time!" Rook then calls out to Ben/Armadrillo and Ruby, "Ben, Ruby! Behind you!" Behind them is Crabdozer charging for them, but they both flip away, as Crabdozer crashes into a wall, knocked out as Ben/Armadrillo tells Rook, "Thanks, partner." Rook then asks him with a smirk, "For saving you and my beloved?"

Ruby blushes as Ben/Armadrillo corrects Rook telling him, "That was only a warning! It doesn't count." Ben/Armadrillo and Ruby quickly get to Rook and Scarlet as Ruby undoes Scarlet's trap and Ben/Armadrillo drills into the trap holding Rook down as he tells Rook, "This is a save." Ruby then helps her mother up asking her, "You alright, mom?" Scarlet nods, smiling at her daughter telling her, "I'll be fine, Little Red Riding Wolf. Oh, by the way, before I came here with Rook, I was with Luna. She's having her pups right now."

Ruby gasps happily as Scarlet nods telling her daughter, "But don't worry, the other wolves are helping her through it as we speak. We'll be seeing them soon." Ruby howls happily at the news as both teen boys smile. Unfortunately, the howl woke up Khyber as he lets out the whistle noise again as Ruby whimpers in pain while holding her ears once more as Scarlet then looks worried, as she didn't hear a thing. Ben/Armadrillo then asks Rook, "Still think I can't survive on my own?" Rook then prepares his Proto-Tool telling his partner, "I suppose you are safe in your current alien form – as long as it doesn't turn into Slamworm." Ruby points in front of them yelling, "Don't be so sure!"

Crabdozer had then turned into Slamworm and dove at Ben/Armadrillo and Ruby tearing them through the floor into another floor and to another as Scarlet yells out concerned, "RUBY!" Rook helps Scarlet up telling her, "Do not worry, Mrs. Bloodmoon. Ruby will be fine. Ben will never let anything bad happen to her when I am not around." Scarlet nods, knowing he is right as they both look down through the holes being made.

* * *

As soon as Ben/Armadrillo lands on the floor uncomfortably, he catches Ruby who fell with him as she screamed as both then quickly get out of the way as the Slamworm appeared. Both teens make it to another part of the floor as Ben/Armadrillo starts pounding into a pipe as it dents and breaks while Ruby fires red aura balls at the Slamworm to hurt it. When Ben/Armadrillo was done, a piece of machinery that was attached to it from the pipe connecting to it on the ceiling falls down on the Slamworm harming it as it screeches in pain.

Ruby then grabs her Plumber badge from her clasp as she then tells Rook and her mom, "We'll take care of the shapeshifter. You two have to stop Khyber. He has a whistle on him that he uses to control his dog, literally! The gills on his face are the whistle! Plug those up and we can take it down." Rook and Scarlet nod at each other as they both move to find him as suddenly, the ship starts shaking as Rook comes to a realization telling his friends, "He is on the bridge!" Ben/Armadrillo then tells them, "Then make it snappy! I'm facing my natural predator here!" Then Ruby tells the two through her badge, "Yeah, I'm getting tired of facing this thing!"

* * *

Down below, Ruby and Ben/Armadrillo are trying to get away from the Slamworm as Rook then contacts Ben/Armadrillo through his Omnitrix while he and Scarlet are making their way to the bridge, "You might want to consider switching to another alien form." Ben nods as he turns back to normal as Ruby tells Rook through her Plumber badge, "Thanks, Rookie. Sounds like a good idea." The Slamworm is trying to get rid of the bridge as Ben then tells Rook through the Omnitrix, "But that wasn't a save! It was advice, okay?!"

Ben then scrolls through the Omnitrix saying excitedly, "Here we go, Humungousaur!" He slams it down, but once again, instead he got…Stinkfly! Ruby laughs once more as she falls on her back saying, "Oh, Moon! AGAIN?! Maybe Humungousaur doesn't want to come out!" Ben/Stinkfly complains but comes to terms with it saying, "Oh, well. Could have been worse. At least Slamworm isn't Stinkfly's predator." Slamworm then charges for the teens, but they both get away as Ruby hitches a ride on Stinkfly.

But suddenly, the Slamworm dives through the floor and disappears as Ben/Stinkfly and Ruby look at each other confused as Ben/Stinkfly tells Ruby, "Well, that was easy." But then Ruby narrows her eyes saying, "Almost too easy."

Ruby then suddenly whimpers in pain just as Ben/Stinkfly goes down the hole and suddenly, Slamworm turned into Buglizard and grabbed them with his tail and walks on up to the top as both teens realized the ship is in the air.

* * *

Khyber is watching all of this unfold through a screen as he controls the ship with the same kind of ship wheel you'd see on pirate ships. Khyber then says to himself, "Excellent work, old friend." Suddenly, the doors behind him burst open due to Rook's Proto-Tool when he fired on it. Rook and Scarlet appear from the door as Rook exclaims to Khyber, "It would appear, Khyber, that the hunter has become the hunted! For what you did to my Ruby, I will pay it back tenfold!" Rook then holds out his Plumber's badge telling Ruby through it, "Not bad, huh, Ruby?" Ruby blushes on her end as Scarlet smirks telling Rook, "I knew there was a reason you were her imprintee. You love her too much."

On Ben/Stinkfly's and Ruby's end, Ben/Stinkfly tells Rook through the Omnitrix, "Less quipping, more whistle plugging!" Ben/Stinkfly then turns back to normal as Ben activates the Omnitrix and asks it, pleading, "Just give me something useful! Is that too much to ask, Omnitrix?" Ruby then yells at the Omnitrix, "Yeah, I want to live to see my sixteenth birthday party!" Ben then slams it down as he then turns into Crashhopper. Ruby immediately latches onto his neck as Ben/Crashhooper then says, "Crashhopper? I'll take it for now." Then Ruby tells Ben, "Then what are you waiting for, Benji?! Hop!"

Ben/Crashhopper does so, but he's so high up and when he's going down, he and Ruby yell out scared, "BAD IDEA!" They continue to fall as they both scream, but before Ruby could use a spell, Ben/Crashhopper grabs onto a ledge and smiles as both teens sigh in relief. But the Buglizard is heading towards them as Ben/Crashhooper swings, hitting the Buglizard, hitting it in the head while Ruby struggles to hold on.

* * *

Rook and Scarlet on the other hand are trying to take down Khyber just enough to knock him down as Rook fires from his Proto-Tool and Scarlet tries to take Khyber down with punches and kicks. But Khyber manages to dodge them until he grabs onto a shield, deflecting the Proto-Tool's shots hitting both Rook and Scarlet knocking them to the ground as Khyber sees the fight unfold through the screen. Khyber then blows the whistle sound through his gills, turning the Buglizard into Mucilator as Scarlet looks at the screen scared for her daughter.

* * *

Ruby laughs as Ben/Crashhopper keeps on swinging, hitting Buglizard's head as the alien hero tells the enemy creature, "Bring it on, ugly! I can keep this up all day!" Ruby laughs telling Ben/Crashhopper, "Faster, faster, faster!" Unfortunately, the whistle blows as Ruby can hear it now as she whimpers in pain as Buglizard turns into Mucilator as Ben/Crashhopper's feet sticks to one of the sacs as Ruby gulps saying, "Oh, crud!" Ben/Crashhopper nods saying, "Yeah, I so did not want to stick that landing!" Mucilator runs off with both sticking to it as they both scream in fear.

* * *

Scarlet and Rook stand back up as Scarlet growls angrily as her daughter is in trouble. Rook then fires a bola-like device from his Proto-Tool at Khyber's feet, not only binding them, but shocking him as well as Khyber falls to the floor knocked out. Rook then walks up to Khyber as he says, "You are under arrest, Khyber! In the name of the Plumbers, we order you to stand down now!" Scarlet nods as Khyber then quickly knocks down Rook and Scarlet by their feet with his own and the villain then rolls over to a wall with weapons, grabs a sword and cuts off the bola.

Scarlet looks over to Rook and gasps seeing Khyber behind him ready to attack him with his sword as Scarlet growls angrily at this and charges for him just as Khyber brings down his sword, and blocks it with her own. Rook looks shocked as Scarlet looks determined with teeth gritting and fierce brown eyes. Scarlet then yells at Khyber, "There's no way in the Moon will I ever let you hurt my daughter's mate!" Both adults fight with their swords with slashes and blocks.

Khyber and Scarlet are at a standstill with their blocked swords as both glare at each other with anger as Khyber then tells her, "Your weapon is versatile, wench, but it lacks power!" Scarlet smirks telling him, "True, but I still win!" Suddenly, Khyber is shocked with a taser-like device as Rook did it with his Proto-Tool.

Khyber then falls to the ground unconscious as Rook then says, "Versatility does have advantages such as Mrs. Bloodmoon having help." Rook quickly runs to the controls as Scarlet utters a spell on Khyber, "Et alligant Khyber, Ligate eximius stricta, and plug suum anhelitum." Khyber is tied up with crimson aura ropes super tight so he cannot break them along with crimson aura plugging his gills so no more whistles can come out as Rook quickly gets to the wheel and starts controlling it.

Scarlet on the other hand, seeking the opportunity, smirks evilly as she stares at Khyber, she tells Rook, "Rook, take all the time you need to drive, okay? I have some things to take care of with this so-called hunter." Scarlet cracks her knuckles and smirks as Rook sees this happening as he smirks as he asks her, "When you are finished, let me as Ruby would say 'take a crack at him.'" Scarlet nods as the beating of a lifetime began.

* * *

Back outside, Mucilator is about to eat Ben/Crashhopper and Ruby but due to the ship turning, it spits them out as the Omnitrix times out turning Ben back to normal as he grabs onto a ledge and Ruby's hand as they both fell. Both teens sigh in relief as Ben pulls her up with him to the ledge as both are now safe. Ben then asks Rook through the Omnitrix, "Rook, Mrs. Bloodmoon, what the heck's going on in there?!" Ruby then asks through it, "Yeah! We almost fell to the Earth!"

An answer comes out through the Omnitrix as both teens are hearing pained grunts and groans, punches landing and kicks sounding as both teens are confused as Rook tells them, "For one, I am commandeering this vehicle under section 27b, stroke six of the Intergalactic Plumber Code. And second, the fighting you are hearing on my end? It is your mother, Ruby. She is getting revenge on Khyber for hurting you." Scarlet then yells while hurting Khyber, "THIS IS FOR HUNTING AND STALKING MY DAUGHTER! THIS IS FOR KIDNAPPING AND HURTING HER! THIS IS FOR CUTTING HER FACE AND SOME OF HER HAIR OFF! AND THIS IS FOR TRYING TO SKIN HER ALIVE YOU SICK SON-OF-A-AAAAARRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ruby and Ben gulp in fear as Ben tells her in a small scared voice, "It's official, Ruby. I'm scared of you, and your mom!" Ruby smirks saying, "Told ya so." Suddenly, Mucilator charges for them as Ben then asks the Omnitrix sounding very desperate, "You know what, Omnitrix? I give up. Surprise me!" Ben then slams it down, and suddenly, Ben turns into the alien he's been trying to get all day, Humungousaur! Ruby looks on in awe and she grins gigantically at the alien form.

Humungousaur is a big hulking brown dinosaur with the Omnitrix in a wrap-like deivce around his chest, black underpants with a white waist line and green eyes as Ben/Humungousaur cheers happily after punching Mucilator away, "HUMUNGOUSAUR! For real?! Whoo-hoo!" Ruby cheers happily hugging Ben/Humungousaur around his neck telling, "Yes, finally! I've been waiting a long time to meet you, big guy!" The alien hero grins happily as Ben/Humungousaur charges for Mucilator exclaiming, "Who's the predator now, Tiny?!" He lifts up the Mucilator after pinning it down as Ruby gasps telling Ben/Humungousaur, "Ben, I got an idea! Keep him pinned!"

He nods and pins the Mucilator down as Ruby looks around it, trying to find what she's looking for and gasps with a bark, finding it as she gets near the creature's neck and pinches it making the creature groan in pain as it is knocked out. Ben/Humungousaur looks at Ruby shocked as he asks her, "What did you do?!" So Ruby answers with a smile, "Remember that Hephaestan Neuro Grip that Khyber used on us? I found it! He was right. It is useful for subduing all manner of prey." Ben/Humungousaur smiles as he turns back to normal as he then tells Rook and Scarlet through the Omnitrix, "Did you see what we did?! That was awesome!"

Ruby nods saying, "Now that's one for the highlight reel!" Ben and Ruby high-five, but suddenly the ship is going down as both rise to the air! All of the fighting must have taken apart the ship in some way, but luckily they grabbed onto the ship as Ben asks the Omnitrix, "What are the chances you're gonna give me something that can fly?!" He slams it down, turning into Big Chill, a blue slightly hulking humanoid moth alien with green eyes as the Omnitrix is a belt around his waist. Ben/Big Chill nods in approval as Ruby says a spell to teleport inside, "Intra ianuas navem." Ruby appears inside the ship as Ben/Big Chill phases inside.

When they both got inside, they saw Rook beating Khyber down to the ground as Scarlet tries to keep the ship up as Rook yells out while landing punches and kicks, "THIS IS FOR HURTING MY BELOVED MATE! AND THIS IS FOR HURTING THE OTHER HALF OF MY HEART! AND THIS IS FOR PUTTING US THROUGH ALL OF THIS!" Ruby sighs in bliss as she says, "Moon, I love that alien!" While Ben just looks on in shock and a little unnerved and scared as he whispers to Ruby, "Um, Rubes? You know how I asked you to remind me never to get yours or mom's bad side? Add Rook to that list too."

Ruby chuckles at this and nods. Scarlet than runs over to Ruby, glad she's alright asking her, "Are you alright, Little Red Riding Wolf?" Ruby nods saying, "Yeah, I'm alright Mom. The creature is down and we have to get out of here before this ship crashes." Everyone nods as Ben/Big Chill grabs hold of Rook as Ruby uses her aura angel wings spell as she holds onto her mom. Both fliers escaped from the ship as they are now in the sky as the ship starts to go down.

The ship crashes down into a forest nearby, luckily no humans or animals were there as the ship explodes. As this happens, all four heroes sigh in relief as Ben/Big Chill is holding Rook and Ruby is holding her mother as all four beings are in the sky, flying to a safe place as Ruby says, "Thank Moon, that's over!" Scarlet nods, exhausted saying, "I agree with you, my child. I don't know how you manage to do all this with your life intact, but I'm very proud of you, my Little Red Riding Wolf." Ruby smiles as she gasps telling her mom, "Mom, we have to get home now! We have to check on Luna and her pups!"

Scarlet nods as Ben/Big Chill tells everyone, "And with that, this adventure is over! Oh, and by the way, just because you managed to help and save me a few times, Rook, it doesn't mean you've won. I can survive just fine on my own without anybody's help." Ruby growls angrily at that as Ben/Big Chill answers nervously, not hearing the Omnitrix beeping, "Unless Ruby helps, of course."

Suddenly, Ben/Big Chill turns back to normal as he and Rook start falling to the ground screaming as Ruby and Scarlet watch, shocked and scared. Luckily, Grandpa Max was flying by in his own black/white/red and light green spaceship and caught them. Ruby and Scarlet sigh in relief as Ruby says, "I'm getting tired of life-threatening situations." Scarlet nods saying, "You and me both, Ruby."

* * *

Back on the ground where the destroyed spaceship is, out of the fire is Khyber and his dog come stumbling out as both are on the ground. The dog whimpers in pain and slight fright as Khyber tells it, "Fear not, old friend. Those young whelps, Ben Tennyson and Ruby Bloodmoon, will pay dearly for this!" After all, all of his trophies, his ship and weapons are destroyed and out of the smoke nearby, two figures come to them aka Dr. Psychobos and Malware. Both are in front of them as Malware tells Khyber, "We certainly hope so, Khyber. For your sake." Khyber's employers appears as both look like there's an ulterior motive. What is their plan? And why does it involve the Omnitrix and Ben 10?

* * *

Back with the four heroes, Ruby and Scarlet land on the Plumber ship as Grandpa Max gives the four a thumbs up with a smile as Ben tells Rook and Ruby, "Not one word." Then Rook tells Ben with a smirk, "How about four words? 'I told you so.'" Ruby and Scarlet laugh at this just as Grandpa Max brings the ship back to the ground. That's right, Grandpa Max was part of the plan, too. He waited until he knew for certain that all three teens were together again and if they managed to bring down and destroy the spaceship. Grandpa Max then called for some Plumbers to go to the crashed ship and try to catch them. But by the time they got there, both the hunter and dog were gone.

This unnerved everyone, especially since there were tracks of two more aliens, meaning that Khyber's employers must have found them and taken them back to their lair. But for now, everyone was just glad the adventure was over and they could do whatever they wanted again for now. In fact, right now Rook, Ben, Ruby – who turned back to human – and Scarlet are over at the log mansion, wanting to see the wolf pups. They got to Luna's den after a little nature hike and they found Luna watching over six newly born whimpering wolf pups. All four teenagers look in awe as Ben says, "Aw, their kind of cute! I guess it's a good thing we made it."

Ben leans to touch one until Ruby slaps his hand as Ben recoils saying, "Ow! What'd you do that for?!" So Ruby tells him, "You can't touch them. In the rules of animals, if a newly born baby is touched by something that does not smell like it's mother, the mother could abandon the wolf pup, leaving it all alone. But luckily, the wolves trust me and my mom, so we're good to touch them, especially since we have to make sure their healthy." Ben nods in understanding as all three teenagers and Scarlet look at the wolf pups seeing three white pups, two gray pups, and one…black pup? Scarlet looks at the last pup shocked as she utters, "Darius…" She knows that pup is not her husband but the fur color reminds her of him.

Ruby looks at the pup confused as she looks to Luna and asks her, "Can I take a look at the pup, Luna?" Luna nods as Ruby leans over and takes the black pup in her arms as the pup whimpers as Ruby holds the pup gingerly saying as she smiles, "Aw, this one's cute! It reminds me of dad in a way. Luna, is this one a boy or a girl?" Luna whimpers out an answer to her as Ruby then says, "A boy? Aww! He's adorable!" Rook smiles tenderly at the sight as he can tell Ruby would be a great mother from the way she held it.

The little black pup that Ruby is holding then somehow opens it's eyes even though it's not supposed to open it's eyes just yet and it's eyes are golden amber. Ruby sees the eyes and gasps in awe telling everyone, "Guys, look at his eyes! They almost look just like your eyes, Rookie!" Everyone sees what she means as Rook smiles saying, "You are right, Ruby Moon. His eyes are almost just like mine, but they look more my planet's main crop." Ben smiles saying, "That's too cool." Ruby gasps as the pup whimpers trying to get closer to her even though it can't move much as Ruby smiles at the pup.

Scarlet looks at this scene shocked and she smiles as a thought came to her. Ben thought that the scene happening before him was really cute, same with Rook as well, especially with his thoughts from his earlier thinking. Luna looks over to Scarlet and nods as Scarlet then tells Ruby, "That little pup seems really attached to you, Ruby, even though you two just met. You really love that pup, don't you?" Ruby nods telling her, "What can I say? He's so cute, it's like he was meant for me." Scarlet smiles then telling Ruby as her daughter placed the wolf pup back with it's mother, "Then how would you like it if you were to keep that pup as your official familiar?" Ruby gasps happily as her wolf ears and tail pop up saying, "REALLY?!"

Scarlet nods telling her with a smile, "Of course! You always said you wanted a wolf pup of your very own and how you would like your familiar to be animal your really connect with, so why not have this little one? You're already bonded with him and you can't get anymore connected than that, you might as well." Ruby grins as Ben then tells her, "Congrats, Ruby!" Rook nods as well, asking Ruby, "I am happy for you, Ruby Moon. So what will you call the pup?"

Ruby has a thinking face on her as she looks at the wolf pup, "Well, he kind of reminds me of Dad, what with his black fur." Ben then asks Ruby, "How about Shadow? ? Midnight?" Ruby shakes her head telling him, "No, I want his name to be something original and unique." Ruby continues to think and she gasps with a bark saying with a smile, "Oh, I know! Damon! That will be his name, Damon!"

* * *

Scarlet, Ben and Rook agree with the name as they all made sure the wolf pups are okay before heading back to the log mansion. Ben decided to stay over in a guest bedroom, wanting to take a nice long nap after today. Rook and Ruby on the other hand decided to take a walk around the forest, thinking of everything that happened. Ruby was glad that Khyber was taken care of for now, but she is worried if he will come back. Rook thinks the same thing as he looks at Ruby as she is worried as he is. But then he remembered what Ben had said to him through the Omnitrix earlier about their imprint bond that had been stuck on his mind and bothering him the entire time since then. Was what Ben said really true? Would Ruby die from absolute heartbreak if he really did break up with her?!

And so as they walked, Rook decides to ask Ruby nervously, "My beloved, if you do not mind, I need to ask you something." Ruby smiles telling him as she nods, "Sure, Rook. Fire away. And no, that does not mean blast fire at me." Rook laughs a little at that as he tells her as he hesitated, "I figured. As for my question, Ben had contacted me during your fight with Khyber through the Omnitrix. And well, I just wish to know something…Was everything that Ben said true? About how serious our imprinting bond really is, how you could fall apart and die from a fatal case of heartbreak if our bond was to be broken by my breaking up with you?"

Ruby pauses and stops walking in shock, now knowing that Rook knows about the downside to their relationship as she face palms muttering with a growl, "Damn you, Ben for overreacting!" She then looks up seeing Rook looking at her with a worried face. Ruby softens up and calms down, and since she can't lie to Rook, she sighs and tells him hesitantly, "Unfortunately for you, Rook, everything Ben said was indeed true." Rook's eyes go wide in shock, fear and horror as Ruby then tries to tell Rook, "But I had a good reason for not telling you about it! I didn't even really know about it until I got a letter from my father a couple of years ago when I was nine. Apparently, he wrote it sometime when I was three and wanted to give it to me when I was ready. But mom found it and I read everything about the imprinting bond, both the good...And the bad.

After I finished, I knew that one day I'd find my imprintee, but when I did, there was one thing I'd be afraid about it beside losing you or you getting hurt: You finding out that you rejecting me...Or even worse...You getting killed, would mean the absolute end of me. I didn't want you to have that kind of burden knowing that my life is literally in your hands. So after you and I met, I decided that when I was ready to tell you about my feelings and imprinting on you, I wouldn't tell you about the consequences that came with it.

(Laughs bitterly) Although, I actually felt guilty for not telling you the whole truth. But then when Ben was talking to me about finding a new mate, I told him that was impossible, and he wanted to understand my situation better, so I told him everything. He was scared of what I told him and that only made me even more guilty because I just wanted him to understand what would happen but I still hadn't told you anything, and it made me feel like I was betraying you. And what would really 'end' me, was if your life ended. So in truth, I'd be the one who would really suffer if anything happened since it's just in my nature while you still have your own free will even with the bond between us.

I would have told you everything about this earlier if you had asked me. So that's why I hoped you would never find out about it. Until now…I am so sorry Rook..." Ruby looks down in shame and regret as she tries to hide her tears as her Loboan ears and tail appear as the ears are down and her tail is not wagging, but a gentle periwinkle furred hand holds her cheek as he tells her, "Ruby Moon, whether I knew this information or not, I would never leave you, nor am I angry with you for not telling me."

Ruby looks up in shock as her brown eyes are wide with tears as Rook continues, "Back on Revonnah, I had lots of females trying to be with me as they always asked me to hang out with them especially for the Harvest Festival on Revonnah. One in particular was Rayona, who I thought was very beautiful and kind. But for some strange and unknown reason, she did not seem to be the right one for me after I spent more time with her.

Later on, I felt that I would find the one I was meant to be with somewhere out in the universe. It was one of the reasons why I became a Plumber in the first place. When I left for Plumber Academy, I decided to break up with Rayona, telling her of what I had been feeling of our relationship. She told me she understood, stating that for some reason, she knew we were not meant to be.

My family was shocked to say the least, mostly my father, but I did not care. As soon as I stepped foot on the transport heading for Earth, I made a vow that day: If I were to find my soulmate anywhere in the universe, I would never leave them for anything, whether if it were due to social problems, family problems or anything similar to them. And then I met you…"

Ruby listens in awe and shock as then Rook hugs her tightly to him, letting her know he loves her more than anything as he puts one of his hands through her hair and runs it through as Ruby hugs him as well gripping onto him as he continues with a smile, "The moments of us together when I met you, hung out with you, finding out your secret origins, coming to Earth, our adventures so far, revealing our love for each other and your imprinting on me, our fake breakup and this moment…They are what made me realizes and decide that you are in fact my one true soulmate.

You were worried about me more than you were ever worried about yourself. You care so much about others that you never care about your own personal well-being. In fact when we did that fake breakup, you have no idea how much I hated it...How much it hurt... And I know you felt the same way too, and that is what made me hate it and hurt me even more.

So I understand why you did not tell me about the consequences, and forgive me for saying this Ruby Moon, but there is one thing you were wrong about when you were telling me about this." Ruby pauses her shaking for a moment as her eyes go wide, wondering what made it wrong as Rook continues telling her as he hugs her tighter, "The truth is, I too would suffer greatly if anything ever happened to you. Even if I still have a free will, the downside of our imprinting bond is not just one-sided to just you. So I will gladly shoulder this burden with you rather than letting you bare it alone.

What I am trying to say Ruby Moon is that, I am never intending to leave you, whether it is by rejecting you or my demise, because you are more important to me than everything in this universe. And nothing in this universe is ever going to tear us apart. I can assure you of that." As soon as Rook stopped talking, Ruby starts shaking at the confession as Rook pulls up her face seeing her sobbing and crying as tears run down her face as Rook kisses her lips saying with a gentle smile, "I will always love you, my beloved Ruby Moon, and I will never ever leave you."

* * *

Those words broke the dam in Ruby's heart as she hugs Rook tight as she cries into his shoulder as Rook holds her close, glad and happy he poured his heart out to her. A couple minutes later – though it felt like an hour to the couple – they both let go as Ruby calms down telling Rook with a smile, "Thank you, Rookie. You have no idea how happy I am to hear all of that." Rook smiles telling her, "You are welcome, my beloved. I would do anything to make you happy. Now, how about we get back to your home and get some much needed rest and some food in our belies?" Ruby smiles telling him, "I'd love that, Rookie." Both then start walking down the path that will take them back home.

As soon as they made it to the front door, Rook places an arm around her shoulders and holds her close. Ruby looks up into his eyes as both smile at each other. Ruby and Rook then lean into each other for a kiss as their lips meet, and both went inside the house and relaxed for the rest of the day. The day came to an end as all three teenagers decided to sleep in the living room, with Ruby on the big dog bed-like couch by the fireplace, Ben on a normal couch and Rook decided to sleep with her on the dog bed couch. All three teenagers sleep soundly after the stressful day they had as they can take comfort for the moment that they are safe as nothing will be able to separate them again.

Especially since everything is okay for now, what with Ruby and Rook finally together and in love, both are now true partners with Ben, and Khyber taken down for now. But what will happen next? What new adventures will come forth? Who will be a part of the adventures? Who will Ruby and Rook meet from Ben's past? What new fun will these three have? And how will meeting Rook's family fare with Ruby? But most importantly, what will happen next? Stay tuned to find out in the next book, Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse Book 2!

* * *

Ladies and gentlemen, the first story to be finished in about a year and a half, is completed! Whoo-hoo! I am so incredibly happy right now! But I'm even happier that each and every one of you took the time to read it since December. I may have had some bad reviews in this whole story, but I also had good reviews! And that made me happy. After all, writing stories is meant to be fun! And I stuck with it, despite all the criticism! So dear reviewers, readers, followers and favoriters, please stay tuned to the next book, Ruby Chronicles – Omniverse Book 2 sometime between Thursday through Saturday sometime next week! Here are the Latin spells for this chapter:

'Khyber tenentur minibus,' means 'Bound Khyber's hands.'

'Crabdozer, vadant,' means 'Crabdozer, let them go.'

'Et alligant Khyber, Ligate eximius stricta, and plug suum anhelitum' means 'Tie up Khyber, bind him super tight, plug his gills.'

'Intra ianuas navem,' means 'Teleport inside ship.


End file.
